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A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §166

§.XIV (4): With Flacius — flee Variata from ἀσπονδος hate of Reformed; tear seamless tunic

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(4.) Those who side with restless Flacius Illyricus — called quarrelsome even by Elector Augustus of Saxony himself (German Formula of Concord, appendix p. 119 end, edition of the year just past) — and with that bitter, almost raving scourge of Philip. Many theologians complained of him: the Wittenbergers throughout the Altenburg Colloquy acts; the Ausführlicher Behauptung author, pp. 64–70; the Leipzigers with them in the whole German Endlicher Bericht (Wittenberg, Hans Lufft, 1570); and Melanchthon himself, speaking calmly enough of Flacius's storms — in the letter to Johann Mathesius (Counsels & Judgments II, p. 257) and in a hand-written letter to Ulrich Mordisius, lately printed as unpublished from Adam Christoph Jacobi's library by Christian Jüncker in the Life of Luther, p. 126 — including: "Gladly will I leave both the painted deeds of the Papists and Flacian sycophancy whenever God wills me to go, dying or in exile. Dying, I go to the Son of God's school and the heavenly churches; in exile, God helping, I will find lodging with better men than Flacius, who threatens to drive me from all Germany. I pray God to rule and cover you. Farewell, 4 November 1558."

From implacable (ἀσπόνδῳ) hatred of the Reformed — worse than snake or dog — they flee Philip's Variata Augsburg Confession, mainly because Article X was changed.

Yet they will not remember that, as to substance, it is the same as the Invariata: so judged the Naumburg estates already cited, and Mentzer does not deny it (Prolegomena to the Exegesis of the A.C., p. 21 mid) — that the Reformed neither seek nor can seek nor wish to seek any greater support for their view from one edition than from the other.

Nor does it become Christian theologians, for such sycophancies, to rip and tear Christ's seamless tunic — that is, his beloved church, most tenacious of Christian love by his command — into pieces.

Latin

(4.) Qui cum inquieto & ab ipso AUGUSTO, SAXONIAE ELECTORE, rixoso appellato (vid. Formul. Concord. Germanicam, anno proximè superiori editam Append. p. 119. in fine) FLACIO ILLYRICO, & acerbißimo, tantumque non delirante Philippo-Mastige: (de quo quam plurimi conquesti sunt Theologi, Wittenbergenses in Actis Colloquii Altenburgici passim, vid. Auctor der Aufführlicher Behauptung/ à pag. 64. ad 70. & cum Wittenbergensibus unà Lipsenses, Tractat. Germanico integro, Endlicher Bericht dictô, & Wittenbergae, literis Hans Luffts 1570. exscripto, Ipseque Melanchton, de turbis interim à Flacio excitatis, placidè satis locutus, cùm in Epistola ad Johann. Mathesium, inter Consilia & Judicia Melanchtonis exstante, Part. 2. pag. 257. tùm in Epistola, ejusdem manu exarata ad Ulricum Mordisium, &, ceu nondum edita, ex Bibliotheca Adami Christophori Jacobi, à Dn. Christiano Jünckero, in vita Lutheri p. 126. exhibita novissimè, hisce inter alia verbis: Libenter & ab ipsis Papistarum fucosis actionibus & Sycophantia Flaciana, discedam, inquit, quandocunque me Deus discedere volet, vel morientem, vel exulantem. Moriens, accedam ad Scholam Filii Dei & Coelestes Ecclesias; exulans inveniam, juvante Deo, hospitium apud meliores Flacio, qui minatur se effecturum, ut totâ Germania expellar: Oro Deum, ut vos regat atque tegat. Bene valete die 4. Novemb. 1558.) Variatam à Philippo Confessionem Augustanam, ob mutatum praecipuè Articulum Xmum, ex odio in Reformatos ἀσπόνδῳ, angue pejus ac cane refugiunt; Nec tamen meminisse volunt, hanc tàm cùm invariata, quà rem, eandem esse, judicibus Statibus Naumburgicis suprâ citatis, nec diffitente Mentzero Prolegom. in Exeges. A.C. p. m. 21. in med. quam nihil quicquam subsidii majoris ex ista, atq; ex hac, sententiae suae Reformatos vel petere, vel petere posse, vel petere velle; Nec decere Christianos Theologos propter ejusmodi Sycophantias, tunicam Christi inconsutilem, i. e. Ecclesiam Christi dilectam, dilectionisq; Christianae, jussu Christi, tenacissimam, in partes distrahere atque dilacerare.

About this text

Samuel Strimesius — Prefatio through Controversiae Post Lutherum Controv. III-XIII + XV Tolerantia, Hexades Annotationum Prooemium and Annotatio I through Decem Theses / Francus plus Annotatio II §.I-§.VI and Annotatio III §.I–§.VII (through Cassellanum 1661) from Ingenua in Controversias Evangelicorum (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1708). Honest partial; Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio III §.VIII+ fruits / §.IX+, Hexades theses body, deeper Controversiae / Part II remain.

English follows the locked 1708 Francofurti ad Viadrum Latin of Prefatio §I–II, Crimina defenses through III, Part I Protheoria through Controversiae Obices/Historia/Varii gradus, Formula Discord/Disparitas, Ulterius confirmatur / Classes / Formula protest / triplex differentia, Coena Domini Controversiae Priores through Precariae Hypotheses (Controv. print pp. 34–40), Controversiae Post Lutherum Natae Controv. III–XV tip (providence through De Tolerantia mutua; Controv. print pp. 40–78), Hexades Annotationum Prooemium H.I–§.III (Hexades print pp. 1–4 / PDF ~182–185), and Annotatio I De Augustana Confessione §.I–§.VIII tip (Hexades print pp. 5–24+ / PDF ~186–205+), reconstructed from Google Books PDF page images (ONB copy, id 3epYAAAAcAAJ) with pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Sister Halle digitization of Ingenua in Arminianismum (DOI 10.25673/65287) remains Anubis-blocked — skipped; Controversias only. Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio I §.IX+, Hexades theses body beyond §.VIII, and remainder of Controversiae / folio remain.

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