Annotatio III §.II: From the Reformed side — Wittenberg Formula never revoked, only declared; Helvetian approval; Zurich reply dated 4 May 1538 (not 1539 typo in Werenfels)
From the Reformed side: the Wittenberg Formula of Concord was never revoked — only declared (Crocius on the Augsburg Confession, p. 162).
The Swiss approved it point by point (Crocius, pp. 100 and 107).
Because some have doubted that approval, we must call the Helvetians’ own reply letters from Zurich to Luther as witnesses — written a little later, yet not as late as 1539 (the year a Berlin printing of Werenfels’s sermon assigns them, perhaps by typographical error, in this very year of my writing).
They were drawn up on 4 May 1538 — about half a year after Luther’s letter reached them — as Selneccer, Kirchner, and Chemnitz, the three most celebrated Lutheran historians of the Augsburg Confession, recount when they cite the letters in these words:
Latin
A PARTE REFORMATORUM Formulam Concordiae Wittenbergensem nunquam fuisse revocatam, sed declaratam duntaxat vid. Crocium, Comment. August. Confess. pag. 162. sigillatim ab Helvetiis approbatam, Croc. pag. 100. & 107. cujus approbationis, quippe à nonnullis in dubium vocatae, non possumus non testes Helvetiorum advocare responsorias paulò licèt seriùs Tiguro, ad Lutherum datas; non tamen Annô demum 1539. cui anno, fortè per errorem typographicum, assignatas eas invenio in parte Concionis Werenfelsianae, hôc ipsô, quô haec scribo, annô, Berolini typis exscripta, sed exaratas Anno 1538, die 4. Maji, adeoque dimidio circiter post anno à reddita sibi Lutheri Epistola, uti memorant Historiae Augustanae Confess. Scriptores tres Lutheranorum celebratissimi, Selneccerus, Kirchnerus & Chemnitius, dictas literas verbis sequentibus recensentes:
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.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Prefatio section I tip (Schrey & Hartmann 1708) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Prefatio §II + Crimina heads + Part I Protheoria densify (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Prefatio Crimina defenses densify (IV + Crimina I–II opening) (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Prefatio Crimina defenses pages 44-56 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Crimina II rem + Crimina III + Cassel Art. III–V densify (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Prefatio Crimina II–III pages 57-75 (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Prefatio Crimina II–III pages 56-75 (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Part I Protheoria body pages 102-120 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Controversiae Obices/Officia/Historia/gradus densify (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Part I Protheoria body pages 114-120 (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Part I Protheoria body pages 102-120 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Formula Discord / Digressio / Bossuet / Disparitas densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Part I Protheoria pages 121-127 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Part I Protheoria pages 121-127 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Ulterius confirmatur / Classes / Formula protest / triplex densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Part I Protheoria pages 126-135 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Part I Protheoria pages 126-135 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Coena Domini body start densify (Q.I–II / Precariae Hypotheses) (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Coena Domini pages 134-141 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Coena Domini pages 134-141 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Post Lutherum Providentia Controv. III opening densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Post Lutherum pages 141-155 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Post Lutherum pages 141-144 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Controversiae Post Lutherum Controv. VI Reprobation densify (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Hexades Annotationum Prooemium H.I–§.III densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Hexades Prooemium PDF pages 179-186 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Hexades Prooemium pages 182-186 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Hexades Annotatio I §.I–§.IV densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Hexades Annotatio I PDF pages 186-198 (Latin)
- Checked print Tesseract Hexades Annotatio I pages 186-193 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Hexades Annotatio I §.V–§.VII densify (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext Hexades Annotatio I PDF pages 192-205 (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, Hexades Annotatio I §.VIII densify (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.