# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_August 1856_S242
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

242 Lutheran-Theological Pastor's Library.

the defense of the Jesuits that was at stake here, as rather this: to bring their interpretations of the Tridentine decrees before the public; he resolved, therefore, to answer Andradius with a thorough exegetical-historical refutation of the decisions of Trent, all the more since Andradius, in his writing, had given important disclosures concerning the origin, the true sense, and the sometimes veiled purpose of the doctrinal formulas set forth at Trent. The work contains all those decrees and canons themselves which contain disputed points of doctrine, upon which the critique of each is then immediately appended. This critique contains, first, an unveiling of the true sense of the words of the Council and of the deceit that almost always lies concealed beneath the manner of their formulation; then a historical demonstration of how the pure apostolic doctrine, in the course of time, arrived at the corruption in which it was set forth by the Council as the doctrine of the Church and, under threat of ban and curse for those who contradicted it, was solemnly sealed; and finally a thorough refutation of the error in question from God's Word. The work appeared bit by bit; the first part appeared in the year 1565, the last in 1573. Among the very numerous editions of this work, the Frankfurt (am Main) edition of 1707 is the finest. The learned Georg Christian Johannis prepared it, indicated precisely, for the citations from the Church fathers that occur, the place where they are to be found, gave the quotations from the Greek Church fathers in the language of the original, and enriched the whole with historical-chronological tables, as well as with a number of illuminating excerpts from letters and other written documents of Franc. de Vargas, Pet. Malvenda, and several Spanish bishops. Already in 1576 the work appeared at Frankfurt am Main, so as to make it accessible also to the laity, in a German translation, which a preacher at Gießen named Georg Nigrinus had prepared.*) Rather than attempting ourselves to praise this polemical work, let it be permitted us to communicate a few judgments of competent judges upon it. Buddeus writes: "Concerning this outstanding work nothing so laudatory can be said that it would not, in many respects, fall short of it; Chemnitz stands alone in this genre (instar omnium)." (Isag. p. 498.) The learned Michael Neander, who died as rector at Ilfeld in the year 1595, writes: "From him (Chemnitz) there are, besides other exceedingly useful writings, among others also that outstanding work (or rather that exceptionally rich theological library), which contains the refutation of the Tridentine Council and, at the same time, a defense and exposition of the whole doctrine of the Church, and it ought therefore to be diligently read by all to whom the knowledge of the truth is a serious matter and truly lies close to heart." (Orbis terrae, P. I, p. 153.) Joh. Micraelius (died at Stettin, 1658) calls Chemnitz "an incomparable theologian, who

*) A preacher of our Synod owns this now very rarely found book.