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A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §91

Fraction quarrel not fundamental; precarious readings of 'he broke' and 'do this'

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After the Rinteln declaration (above, p. 336), the Cassel men grant that this dissent is not fundamental.

Yet the brethren lean on precarious props. First: that in the words of institution "he broke" means only "he distributed," as Hebrew words for breaking can also mean distributing — as if Christ had used those Hebrew words; as if a double act were not recorded, "he broke and he gave" (ἔκλασε καὶ ἐδίδου), even in the Syriac; as if "to break" of bread meant anything else in the plain New Testament places.

Second: that breaking is unnecessary because we may not know how Christ broke — which would also make blessing and giving thanks unnecessary, since the manner is not spelled out, though the act itself is stated as plainly as can be.

Third: that "Do this" carries no command to do what He did — though Luther himself tied those words to the breaking of bread (Jena Works II.25; Massonius Anatomy IV.253; Wendelin against Gerhard, Exercises I.XVII).

See also Chemnitz, Mentzer, and the Giessen consensus in Massonius at the same place. Here Controv. XIII on rites closes before the mutual-tolerance head and before the Hexades.

Latin

DISSENSUM non esse fundamentalem, post declarationem factam à Rintelensibus, suprâ pag. 336. agnoverunt Cassellani. SUPPONUNT autem Fratres, 1. Idem esse in Verbis Instit. fregit, quod distribuit, quomodo פרס & שבר Hebraeis sit frangere & quoque distribuere: Quasi verò aut Christus his vocibus usus sit, quae etiam praecipuè frangendi & dividendi significatu veniunt; aut non duplex actio Christi memoretur ἔκλασε καὶ ἐδίδου, etiam apud Syrum interpretem; aut τὸ κλάσαι, vel κλᾶσθαι, aliter de pane usurpetur, quam sensu frangendi obviis locis Novi Test. 2. Rem non esse necessariam, fractionem, quia fortè nescitur modus quô Christus fregerit; Quo ipso nec necessarium εὐλογῆσαι, εὐχαριστῆσαι, &c. quia non exprimitur modus, re expressissimâ. 3. Mandatum non exstare in Verbis, Hoc facite, scil. quod feci: Quae tamen ad panis fractionem retulit ipse Lutherus, cujus verba ex Tomo II. Oper. Jen. p. 25. habes apud Massonium, Anatom. P. IV. p. 253. & Wendelinum Exercit. Theologicar. contrà Gerhardum, P. I. Exercit. XVII. Vide & Consensum Chemnitii, Mentzeri, Giessensium, apud eundem Massonium, loco cit.

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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