Before the Formula of Concord resolved the conflicts which arose among Lutherans about the Interims (1548) imposed on Germany by the adversaries of Lutheranism, Lutherans struggled to respond appropriately to the imposition of indifferent things (Adiaphora) that implied agreement in doctrine with the Roman Catholic adversaries. Both Interims insisted on the reintroduction of the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic mass in places where these external ceremonies had been abolished and the mass cleansed of superstition, because these external ceremonies contradicted the chief article of Christian doctrine, the article of justification.

 

While the Formula of Concord provides a faithful confessional resolution of the problem of indifferent things, it is instructive to see how faithful Lutherans battled against the re-imposition of traditions and ceremonies that contradicted the chief article. One example of this is the book produced by Nicholas von Amsdorf in Magdeburg. The Magdeburg Confession of 1550 rejects the impositions enforced on the churches by means of the Interims and denies that such teachings as are implied by the modification of church practices can be imposed apart from God's Word, even by lawful government as represented by the Emperor and his perfidious minion Duke Maurice of Saxony. The book is produced while Duke Moritz was investing the town of Magdeburg for the express purpose of re-imposing Roman Catholic ceremonies on the Lutheran parishes and their clergy. The book was written in the crisis of war and its threat, and despite that, is a deeply faithful precursor of the Formula of Concord.

 

Even in the face of the threat of an investing army, Amsdorf confessed that practice follows doctrine. Accommodation with the enemies for the sake of earthly peace steals from the faithful church the peace of God. Worldly peace may not be the aim of the church or her children. When earthly peace becomes superior to the peace given by God through His divine Word, we have already broken the first commandment by enshrining as paramount the idol of earthly peace. We have accused God of being intolerant because He demands faithful expression of his word in both life and doctrine by the children whom He has given birth in baptism. There can be no retreat on ceremonies that bear the teaching of the doctrine of justification and convey that teaching to those who are in the services of the church. Such ceremonies are beneficial not in and of themselves, but for the sake of teaching the people about the mercy of God in Christ.

 

Of course, those who supported the Interims argued that the changing times and circumstances forced on the Lutheran Church by the Emperor and his minion Maurice required the ceremonies of the church to change. Amsdorf rejected this out of hand. Indeed at a time of persecution such things become even more obligatory, especially if we are fleeing the cross when we change our Lutheran worship practices. Such crosses will always come to the church. The true church is never without suffering. She will always be challenged for the sake of earthly peace. Since ceremonies are not able to be separated from doctrine, she must not give in or give up, because the evangelical truth demands it.