The Colloquy of Worms had increased the enmity and animosity among the
Lutherans. It had brought their quarrels to a climax, and given official
publicity to the dissensions existing among them,--a situation which was
unscrupulously exploited by the Romanists also politically, their
sinister object being to rob the Lutherans of the privileges guaranteed
by the Augsburg Peace, and to compel them to return to the Roman fold.
In particular the Jesuits stressed the point that the dissensions among
the Lutherans proved conclusively that they had abandoned the _Augsburg
Confession_ to the adherents of which alone the provisions of the
Augsburg Peace of 1555 applied. At the same time they embraced the
opportunity to spread false reports concerning all manner of heresies
that were tolerated in the Lutheran churches. This roused the Lutheran
princes, who according to the Augsburg Peace Treaty were responsible to
the Empire for the religious conditions within their territories, to
bend all their energies toward healing the breach and restoring
religious unity within their churches. Efforts to this effect were made
especially at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1558, and at Naumburg, 1561. But
instead of promoting peace among the Lutherans also these conventions of
the princes merely poured oil into the flames by adding new subjects of
dissension, increasing the general distrust, and confirming the
conviction that Luther's doctrine of the Lord's Supper was in danger
indeed. For, instead of insisting on a clear confession of the truth and
an unequivocal rejection of error, the princes endeavored to establish
peace by ignoring, veiling, and compromising the differences.
At Frankfort, Otto Henry of the Palatinate, Augustus of Saxony, Joachim
of Brandenburg, Wolfgang of Zweibruecken, Christopher of Wuerttemberg,
and Philip of Hesse discussed the religious situation and, on March 18,
1558, signed the so-called _Frankfort Recess_ (Agreement), in which they
again solemnly pledged their adherence to the Holy Scriptures, the
Ecumenical Symbols, the _Augsburg Confession_ of 1530, and its
_Apology_. (_C. R._ 9, 494.) In the _Recess_ the princes stated that the
existing dissensions encouraged the Romanists to proceed against the
Lutherans, who, the princes declared, were not disagreed in their
confession. In four articles the controverted questions concerning
justification, good works, the Lord's Supper, and the adiaphora were
dealt with, but in vague and ambiguous terms, the articles being based
on Melanchthon's anti-Flacian opinion of March 4, 1558. (499ff.; 462ff.)
When the _Frankfort Recess_ was submitted for subscription to the
estates who had not been present at Frankfort, it failed to receive the
expected approval. It was criticized by the theologians of Anhalt,
Henneberg, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, the Lower Saxon cities, and
Regensburg. The strongest opposition, however, came from Ducal Saxony,
where Flacius attacked the _Recess_ in two books. The first was
entitled: "_Refutatio Samaritani Interim_, in quo vera religio cum
sectis et corruptelis scelerate et perniciose confunditur--Refutation of
the Samaritan Interim, in which the true religion is criminally and
perniciously confounded with the sects." The other: "_Grund und Ursach',
warum das Frankfurtisch Interim in keinem Wege anzunehmen sei_--Reason
and Cause why the Frankfort Interim must Not be Adopted." The chief
objections of Flacius were: 1. The _Smalcald Articles_ should have been
included in the confessions subscribed to. 2. The differences within the
Lutheran Church should not have been treated as questions of minor
import. 3. Major's statement should have been rejected as simply false,
and not merely when falsely interpreted. 4. The statements concerning
the Lord's Supper are "dark, general, and ambiguous," hence
Crypto-Calvinistic. 5. The article on the adiaphora is ambiguous and
altogether unsatisfactory. 6. The measures adopted to suppress
theological discussions and controversies would lead to suppression of
the truth ("binding the mouth of the Holy Ghost") and tyrannizing of the
churches by the princes. (Preger 2, 74.)
In his attitude Flacius was supported by his colleagues in Jena and by
Duke John Frederick. When a delegation appeared requesting him to sign
the _Recess_, he declined and ordered his theologians to set forth his
objection in a special book. Elector August, in turn, charged
Melanchthon to write an apology of the _Recess_ against the ducal
theologians; which, again, was answered by Flacius. In order to unite
the opponents of the _Recess_, John Frederick invited the Lower Saxons
to attend a convention in Magdeburg. When this failed, Flacius induced
the Duke to publish a book treating particularly the doctrinal
differences within the Lutheran Church. In the drafting and revision of
this _Book of Confutation_, as it was called, the following theologians
participated: Strigel, Schnepf, Andrew Huegel, John Stoessel, Simon
Musaeus, Joachim Moerlin, Sarcerius, Aurifaber, and Flacius. November
28, 1558, it received the sanction of the dukes. Among the
Melanchthonians the _Book of Confutation_, which had made it a special
point to refute and reject the errors of the Wittenberg Philippists,
caused consternation and bitter resentment. For evidently its
theological attitude was incompatible with the _Recess_, and hence the
breach now seemed incurable and permanent. By order of Elector August,
Melanchthon, in the name of the Wittenberg faculty, wrote an opinion of
the _Book of Confutation_. (_C. R._ 9, 763.) But contents as well as
form of this opinion merely served to confirm the ducal theologians in
their position. The Philippists also fortified themselves by publishing
the _Corpus Doctrinae_ (_Corpus Philippicum_ or _Misnicum_), which
contained writings only of Melanchthon. The _Frankfort Recess_,
therefore, instead of bringing relief to the Lutherans, only increased
their mutual enmity and distrust. In order to reconcile John Frederick,
the Duke of Wuerttemberg suggested a convention of princes at Fulda, on
January 20, 1559. But when Elector August heard that besides the Duke of
Saxony also other opponents of the _Frankfort Recess_ were invited, he
foiled the plan by declining to attend.