flacius.net

Catalogus testium veritatis... (Catalogue of Witnesses of the Truth)

In this monumental work Flacius aimed to collect all those “witnesses” throughout the centuries who had resisted the central control of the papacy and proved the theological theses of the Protestant movement. Relying on primary sources, together with Flacius’ commentary, Catalogus described the plight of people who strove to preserve the New Testament faith and resisted the “Antichrist” (Rome).
Catalogus was written between 1553 and 1555 and was first published in Basel in 1556, with ten more editions to follow later.

The entire content of Catalogus has been digitized and can be found on the web site of the University of Mannheim:
http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenahist/autoren/flacius_hist.html

Through enumerating close to 400 “witnesses” Flacius tried to show that the Reformation was not something that Luther or others started in the 16th century. On the contrary, he wanted to demonstrate that there had always been people who wanted to be free from central authority and the politics of Rome and who longed to be able to read and interpret Scriptures in their own homes and communities.
The list begins with St. Peter the apostle and includes ecclesiastical leaders and priests, such as Photius I (ca. 820-893), Patriarch of Constantinople, who refused to accept the Pope’s supremacy in matters of the Eastern church; and theologian and mystic Abbot Joachim Fiore from Calabria (ca. 1135-1202). Renewers and reformers of the church, such as Jan Hus (ca. 1371-1415), as well as groups of believers (the Bulgarians converting to Christianity; the Waldensians), are also named. Several political leaders also appear as witnesses: among them are Holy Roman Emperors Charles IV (1316-1378) and Sigismund (1368-1437). The “witnesses of truth” represent a variety of countries and were people who in one way or another had stood against papal power and its financial, moral and political excesses.

Ecclesiastica Historia (The Magdeburg Centuries)

The first significant Protestant work on the history of the church, known as the Magdeburg Centuries (as they were written and edited primarily in Magdeburg), set out to prove on the basis of primary sources that throughout the ages there had always been a true church which stayed loyal to the original apostolic faith. The voluminous undertaking was accomplished by a group of Lutheran scholars, “centurians,” working under the leadership of Flacius. He was the main author and editor-in-chief for the first five volumes and contributor to the rest, except for volume XIII.

The first volume (containing the first three centuries of the Christian faith) was printed in 1559, while volume XIII came out in 1574. Even though the final product was the work of a group of scholars and Johannes Wigand (1523-1587) was in charge of the project, it is primarily attributed to Flacius. Unfortunately, Flacius died in 1575 and the project dwindled. Although volumes XIV and XV were already planned, they were never published but Wigand’s unpublished manuscripts still exist and can be found at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.
All volumes of the Magdeburg Centuries are available in digital format on the web site Monumenta Germaniae Historica: http://141.84.81.24/digilib/centuriae.htm

Clavis Scripturae Sacrae (Key to the Sacred Scriptures)

Clavis consists of two parts: the first one is an encyclopaedic dictionary with terms from the Scriptures, while the second part contains seven hermeneutical pamphlets (concerning the methods of Protestant interpretation and understanding of the Bible) written by Flacius. It has become one of the foundational works of Protestant Biblical hermeneutics. Clavis was first published in Basel in 1567 by Johannes Oporinus and had several more editions later on. It is most likely that the decisions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) motivated Flacius to undertake this gigantic enterprise.

Preface

Already in the dedicatory letter to Duke Christoph of Württemberg, Flacius explains that he will follow the Reformation’s principle of “Sola Scriptura” and oppose Trent’s position on making the Scriptures and church tradition (including decisions of the councils) of equal authority, which according to him is “Supra & Contra Scripturam”. He later states that the Bible is “Norma seu regula coelestis veritatis” (The only standard regulating heavenly truths) and argues that only the Holy Scriptures are a certain norm for the truth.

Theologorum Thesaurus

The first part of Clavis is a biblical dictionary written so that theological students could find certain knowledge from the source of the Holy Scriptures which will help them for preparing sermons, Flacius writes in the foreword. There are different articles on a wide range of vocabulary entries and important theological terms.

The second part of Clavis is composed of seven tracts (tractatus) of varying length which aim to expound Flacius’ biblical hermeneutics.
The first tract, “About the Rule for Becoming Acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures” (De Ratione cognoscendi Sacras Literas) has twenty-four sections, of which the first four have been translated into German and published with the original Latin text printed parallel to it (Lutz Geldsetzer, 1968). At 122 pages it is one of the longest tracts. The beginning sections address some of the preliminary concerns for those about to study the Scriptures, such as the reason for the difficulty of the Sacred Scriptures; the remedy; the rules for studying the Scriptures that are inherent in them; and instructions on how one should be reading the Scriptures. The rest of the sections deal with a variety of topics, including comments on the different types of literature found in the Scriptures (Psalms, prohetic books, Gospels, epistles etc.) and very practical methodological advice for studying sacred texts.

The second tract (Sententiae, ac Regulae patrum, de ratione cognoscendi S. Literas) brings together a summary of the writings of the church fathers on the topic Flacius had introduced in the previous tract.

The somewhat shorter third tract (De Partibus orationis), together with the lengthier fourth one, which spreads over 180 pages (De Tropis et Schematibus S. Literarum) turns the discussion to a very detailed study of questions of speech and language, as found in the Scriptures. These sections contain surveys of grammatical and linguistic rules, such as the use of comparisons and superlatives, and an analysis of style and figures of speech, including examinations of the use of metaphors, allegories, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy, simile and trope. In these tracts Flacius also examines the Biblical languages and employs comparative linguistics in order to establish the patterns inherent in each of them.

Tract five (De Stylo Sacrarum Literarum), after a short preface, carries on with a discussion of sacred literature.
The sixth tract (Aliquot theologici Libelli, etiam ex sermone sacro pendentes, as eum illustrandum non parum utiles) contains reprints of previously published theological works by Flacius. They include two short tracts of eighteen folios with the title “On the Proper Name of Christ Our Savior, Against Osiander. On Jehovah, the Proper Name of the True God” about the use of the name of Jesus and the Hebrew name for God, Jehovah, containing Flacius’ critique of the controversial Nuremberg and later Königsberg reformer, Andreas Osiander’s (1498-1552) Cabbalism. Among the reprinted works is also “Quod puncta Hebraeorum aut Vocales, inde ab initio fuerint”. This was actually his Master’s thesis, defended at the University of Wittenberg in 1546 and published with Philip Melanchthon’s foreword. In it Flacius argued that Hebrew vowel points were a part of God’s inspiration of the Scriptures. Still in the same tract Flacius exhorts his readers to study the Hebrew language (Adhortatio ad studium Linguae Hebrae), as well as to study the Sacred Scriptures (Adhortatio ad studium Sacrarum Literarum).
In the seventh and final tract (De norma seu Regula coelestis veritatis) Flacius refutes what he considers to be gross errors by the Council of Trent and by the papacy in general. A special section is devoted to Nicholas of Cusa’s (1401-1464) theory of the supremacy of church councils over the pope and to his later change of position.

The disappointment and bitterness against the Catholic Church that Flacius expresses was long-standing and had been exacerbated by the long imprisonment in Venice of his uncle, Baldo Lupetina (1502-1556), who was eventually drowned by the Inquisition. Lupetina was a Franciscan friar on the Island of Cres and later on guardian of San Francesco della Vigna monastery in Venice. He converted to Lutheranism and advised Flacius to go to Germany and study theology in 1539. Lupetina was imprisoned in 1542 for his Protestant faith.
The last section of the seventh tract, “On the Appellations and Essence of Original Sin or the Old Adam,” is about Flacius’ teaching on original sin, which expounds the doctrine that is foundational for him.

Glossa compendiaria (Commentary on the New Testament)

This is Flacius’ critical edition of the New Testament text which Erasmus had translated from Greek into Latin. Flacius corrects the translation in numerous places. His commentary, or Glossa compendiaria, is on the bottom of the page.
In the Middle Ages one of the important sources for biblical interpretation was the Glossa ordinaria, a commentary on the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible on the basis of the theological writings of church fathers. Flacius’ commentary differed not only in name (Glossa compendiaria = Brief Commentary) but also in that he approached the translation from Greek in a critical way.
 Toward the end of his life Flacius wrote a similar commentary for the Old Testament but did not succeed in publishing it.