Martin Chemnitz
Lutheran theologian, one of the six who signed the Formula of Concord at Bergen in 1577. The Formula became the last of the confessions gathered in the Book of Concord of 1580.
Chemnitz’s name, “Martinus Chemnitius D.”, closes the list of six signatures under the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, dated at Bergen on 29 May 1577; the others are Jakob Andreae, Nikolaus Selnecker, Andreas Musculus, Christoph Körner and David Chytraeus (Formula of Concord, Epitome, closing note in the Triglot edition, p. 842). The document they signed makes Scripture the only judge of doctrine and receives the creeds, the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s catechisms as its witnesses (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Rule and Norm 1–8). See the Book of Concord.
In the timeline
- 25 June 1580, firm dateThe Book of Concord
After years of disputes among Lutherans following Luther’s death, six theologians sign the Formula of Concord in 1577. In 1580 Lutheran electors, princes and cities publish it with the Augsburg Confession, Luther’s catechisms and the ancient creeds as one Book of Concord.