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Molanus, Lutheran Irenicist (1633–1722)1
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Extract
At the present time ideas of church reunion are current in many forms. Journals are appearing which are devoted exclusively to the exposition of dogmatic positions in an increasingly irenical light. Not the least important among these publications devoted to the expository method of clearing up possible areas of thought for reunion are Irenikon, produced by the Benedictines at Chevtogne, and Catholica, published at Münster under the auspices of Dr. Robert Grosche. Catholica has once again appeared after eleven years of virtual suspension and Dr. Grosche lauds the theologisches Gespräch “as the recognized way which can bring us nearer to the unity of the Church.” With respect to actual ecumenical meetings the Faith and Order Conference of the World Council of Churches met in Lund, Sweden, in 1952, and there Greek Orthodox, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican and free church representatives, and even Roman Catholic observers, rubbed shoulders and discussed problems of ecclesiology with church unity as the ultimate goal.
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- Copyright © American Society of Church History 1953
References
2. Grosche, Robert, “Zum Wiedererscheinen der Catholica,” Catholica, 9th annual series, 1st part, p. 3.Google Scholar
3. The report of the Lund Conference has been published. See Faith and Order: The Report of the Third World Conference at Lund, Sweden, SCM Press, London, 1952.Google Scholar
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5. As an example of the orthodoxy of the Wittenberg brand, Abraham Calovius, professor and superintendent at Wittenberg in 1668, said this of good works: “Bona opera neque ut causa, neque ut medium, neque ut conditio, neque ullo respectu nut modo sunt necessaria ad salutem.” Quoted in Menge, G., “Zur Biographie des Irenikers Spinola,” Franziscanische Studien (1915), II, 3.Google Scholar
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8. Ibid., unmarked page opposite 3.
9. For a concise statement of Calixtus' belief cf. Ermoni, V., “George Calixte,” Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, Vol. II, 2nd. pt.Google Scholar, column 1363. Ermoni sums up his belief in this manner: “…he taught the necessity of good works, rejected the ubiquity of Christ in his humanity, denied the absolute corruption of man, recognized a primacy for the pope established on human law, and granted that the Mass could be called a sacrifice.”
9a. The first of these documents of virtually similar content is the Methodus reducendae Unionis Ecclesiasticae inter Romanenses et Protestantes which is not extant in its entirety but which exists in summary in a letter from Molanus to Leibniz (05 15/25, 1685), printed in Leibniz, , Sämtliche Schriften und Briefe (Prussian Academy of Science edition), Vol. IV, 503Google Scholaret seq. The second of these documents is the Regulae circa Christianorum omnium ecclesiasticam unionem, printed in Bossuet, , Oeuvres Complètes (Vivès edition), (Paris, 1885), Vol. XVII, 360–374.Google Scholar The third irenical document to come out of these negotiations is the Systema Theologicum, printed in Oeuvres de Leibniz, ed. by Foucher de Careil, (Paris, 1867), Vol. I, 531–632.Google Scholar The exact date for the compleion of the Systcma is a matter of dispute but the one commonly accepted is 1684.
10. The difficulties between Rome and France may be summed up in one word, Gallicanism. The overt manifestations of Gallican sentiment may be said to have appeared with the Affair of the Régale in 1673–1675, and to have reached its height with the Declaration of Gallican Liberties of March 19, 1682.
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20. C., 395–396.
21. C., 401.
22. C., 402–403.
23. C., 403.
24. Reference is made to the land settlements of the Convention of Passau (1552) and the Peace of Westphalia (1548), neither of which had been recognized by the Papacy.
25. C., 404.
26. C., 404.
27. C., 406.
28. C., 409.
29. C., 409–410.
30. C., 413.
31. C., 413–414.
32. Eisengrün, Martin, Modesta et pro Statu Temporis praescntis necessaria Declaratio trium Articulorum christianae Fidei (Ingolstadt, 1568).Google Scholar
33. Prima secundae, quaest. xix, art. 8.
34. Sess. VI, canon xxiii.
35. C., 415–416.
36. C., 416–417.
37. C., 417.
38. C., 418.
39. C., 418.
40. The article “Von den Messen für die Toiten” is an attack upon the Mass as a means of helping thé dead out of purgatory, not an attack upon prayers for the dead. Cf.Detzer, , Evangclisches Concordienbuch (Nürnberg, 1843), 292.Google Scholar
41. This was declared a dogma of the Roman Church by Pius IX in 1854.
42. C., 421.
43. Liber IV, Defensionis fidei Tridentinae.
44. C., 422.
45. C., 423.
46. C., 424.
47. C., 427.
48. C., 427.
49. C., 428.
50. C., 429.
51. C., 430.
52. C., 430.
53. C., 431.
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56. Bossuet, , Oeuvres Complètes, XVIII, 54–70.Google Scholar The complete text is to be found on these pages.
57. Réflexions, XVIII, 55–56.
58. Ibid., 56.
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60. H. Weidemann, op. cit., II, 145.
61. After the destruction of the Municipal Library in Strasbourg in 1870 many German libraries contributed to the restoration of the collection. Many works were sent to Strasbourg from the Loccum collection, works which from their publication date could have been used by the Abbot himself.
62. C. E. Weidemann, op. cit., 93.
63. Krätzinger, , “Die kirchlichen Reunionsversuche des Bischofs Christoph Rojas y Spinola,” Archiv für hessische Geschichte, XI, 250.Google Scholar
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66. The electoral dignity came to him by imperial patent in 1692 but he was not recognized by his fellow electors until 1708.