The indignation of the Lutherans against the Calvinistic propaganda,
roused by Westphal and his comrades in their conflict with Calvin and
his followers, was materially increased by the success of the crafty
Calvinists in Bremen and in the Palatinate. In 1547 Hardenberg [Albert
Rizaeus from Hardenberg, Holland, born 1510] was appointed Dome-preacher
in Bremen. He was a former priest whom Lasco had won for the
Reformation. Regarding the doctrine of the Lord's Supper he inclined
towards Zwingli. Self-evidently, when his views became known, the
situation in Bremen became intolerable for his Lutheran colleagues. How
could they associate with and fellowship, a Calvinist! To acknowledge
him would have been nothing short of surrendering their own views and
the character of the Lutheran Church. The result was that John Timann
[pastor in Bremen; wrote a tract against the Interim, died February 17,
1557], in order to compel Hardenberg to unmask and reveal his true
inwardness, demanded that all the ministers of Bremen subscribe to the
_Farrago Sententiarum Consentientium in Vera Doctrina et Coena Domini_
which he had published in 1555 against the Calvinists. Hardenberg and
two other ministers refused to comply with the demand. In particular,
Hardenberg objected to the omnipresence of the human nature of Christ
taught in Timann's _Farrago_. In his _Doctrinal Summary (Summaria
Doctrina)_ Hardenberg taught: "St. Augustine and many other fathers
write that the body of Christ is circumscribed by a certain space in
heaven, and I regard this as the true doctrine of the Church."
(Tschackert, 191.) Hardenberg also published the fable hatched at
Heidelberg (_Heidelberger Landluege_, indirectly referred to also in the
_Formula of Concord_, 981, 28), but immediately refuted by Joachim
Moerlin, according to which Luther is said, toward the end of his life,
to have confessed to Melanchthon that he had gone too far and overdone
the matter in his controversy against the Sacramentarians; that he,
however, did not want to retract his doctrine concerning the Lord's
Supper himself, because that would cast suspicion on his whole teaching;
that therefore after his death the younger theologians might make amends
for it and settle this matter.... In 1556 Timann began to preach against
Hardenberg, but died the following year. The Lower Saxon Diet, however,
decided February 8, 1561, that Hardenberg be dismissed within fourteen
days, yet "without infamy or condemnation, _citra infamiam et
condemnationem_." Hardenberg submitted under protest and left Bremen
February 18, 1561 (he died as a Reformed preacher at Emden, 1574). Simon
Musaeus who had just been expelled from Jena, was called as
Superintendent to purge Bremen of Calvinism. Before long, however, the
burgomaster of the city, Daniel von Bueren, whom Hardenberg had secretly
won for the Reformed doctrine, succeeded in expelling the Lutheran
ministers from the city and in filling their places with Philippists,
who before long joined the Reformed Church. Thus ever since 1562 Bremen
has been a Reformed city.
A much severer blow was dealt Lutheranism when the Palatinate, the home
of Melanchthon, where the Philippists were largely represented, was
Calvinized by Elector Frederick III. Tileman Hesshusius [Hesshusen, born
1527; 1553 superintendent at Goslar; 1556 professor and pastor at
Rostock; 1557 at Heidelberg; 1560 pastor at Magdeburg; 1562
court-preacher at Neuburg; 1569 professor at Jena; 1573 bishop of
Samland, at Koenigsberg; 1577 professor at Helmstedt where he died 1588]
was called in 1557 by Elector Otto Henry to Heidelberg both as professor
and pastor and as superintendent of the Palatinate. Here the Calvinists
and Crypto-Calvinists had already done much to undermine Lutheranism;
and after the death of Otto Henry, February 12, 1559, Hesshusius who
endeavored to stem the Crypto-Calvinistic tide, was no longer able to
hold his own. Under Elector Frederick III, who succeeded Otto Henry, the
Calvinists came out into the open. This led to scandalous clashes, of
which the Klebitz affair was a typical and consequential instance. In
order to obtain the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, William Klebitz, the
deacon of Hesshusius, published, in 1560 a number of Calvinistic theses.
As a result Hesshusius most emphatically forbade him henceforth to
assist at the distribution of the Holy Supper. When Klebitz nevertheless
appeared at the altar, Hesshusius endeavored to wrest the cup from his
hands. Elector Frederick ordered both Hesshusius and Klebitz to settle
their trouble in accordance with the _Augustana_ (Variata). Failing to
comply with this unionistic demand, Hesshusius was deposed, September
16, 1559, and Klebitz, too was dismissed. In a theological opinion,
referred to above, Melanchthon approved of the action. Hereupon
Hesshusius entered the public controversy against Calvinism. In 1560 he
published _Concerning the Presence (De Praesentia) of the Body of Christ
in the Lord's Supper_ and his _Answer (Responsio) to the Prejudicial
Judgement (Praeiudicium) of Philip Melanchthon on the Controversy
Concerning the Lord's Supper_ [with Klebitz].
After the dismissal of Hesshusius, Elector Frederick III, who had
shortly before played a conspicuous role in endeavoring to win the day
for Melanchthonianism at the Lutheran Assembly of Naumburg, immediately
began to Calvinize his territory. In reading the controversial books
published on the Lord's Supper, he suffered himself to be guided by the
renowned physician Thomas Erastus [died 1583], who was a Calvinist and
had himself published Calvinistic books concerning the Lord's Supper and
the person and natures of Christ. As a result the Elector, having become
a decided Reformedist, determined to de-Lutheranize the Palatinate in
every particular, regarding practise and divine service as well as with
respect to confessional books, doctrines, and teachers. The large number
of Philippists, who had been secret Calvinists before, was increased by
such Reformed theologians as Caspar Olevianus (1560), Zacharias Ursinus
(1561), and Tremellius (1561). Images, baptismal fonts, and altars were
removed from the churches; wafers were replaced by bread, which was
broken; the organs were closed; the festivals of Mary, the apostles, and
saints were abolished. Ministers refusing to submit to the new order of
things were deposed and their charges filled with Reformed men from the
Netherlands. The Calvinistic _Heidelberg Catechism_, composed by
Olevianus and Ursinus and published 1563 in German and Latin, took the
place of Luther's Catechism. This process of Calvinization was completed
by the introduction of the new Church Order of November 15, 1563. At the
behest of Frederick III the _Swiss Confession (Confessio Helvetica)_ was
published in 1566, in order to prove by this out-and-out Zwinglian
document, framed by Bullinger, "that he [the Elector of the Palatinate]
entertained no separate doctrine, but the very same that was preached
also in many other and populous churches, and that the charge was untrue
that the Reformed disagreed among themselves and were divided into
sects." Thus the Palatinate was lost to the Lutheran Confession, for
though Ludwig VI (1576-1583), the successor of Frederick III,
temporarily restored Lutheranism, Frederick IV (1583 to 1610) returned
to Calvinism.