well and thoroughly, _egregie et solide_"; 2.
that "afterwards he repeated and explained it in his glorious exposition
of the Book of Genesis, especially of chapter 26;" 3. that in this
exposition also "his meaning and understanding of some other peculiar
disputations, introduced incidentally by Erasmus, as of absolute
necessity, etc., have been secured by him in the best and most careful
way against all misunderstanding and perversion;" 4. that the _Formula
of Concord_ "appeals and refers others" to these deliverances of Luther.
(CONC. TRIGL. 896, 44.)

The _Formula of Concord_, therefore, endorsed Luther's _De Servo
Arbitrio_ without expressing any strictures or reservations whatever,
and, particularly in Articles I, II and XI, also embodied its essential
thoughts though not all of its phrases statements, and arguments. The
said articles contain a guarded reproduction and affirmation of Luther's
doctrine of grace, according to which God alone is the cause of man's
salvation while man alone is the cause of his damnation. In particular
they reaffirm Luther's teaching concerning man's depravity and the
inability of his will to cooperate in conversion; the divine monergism
in man's salvation; the universality of grace and of the efficaciousness
of the means of grace; man's responsibility for the rejection of grace
and for his damnation; God's unsearchable judgments and mysterious ways;
the mystery why some are lost while others are saved, though all are
equally guilty and equally loved by God; the solution of this problem in
the light of glory where it will be made apparent that there never were
contradictory wills in God. In its doctrine of predestination as well as
of free will, therefore, the _Formula of Concord_ is not a compromise
between synergism and monergism, but signifies a victory of Luther over
the later Melanchthon.

253. Attitude of Apology of the Book of Concord.

The attitude of the _Formula of Concord_ with respect to Luther's _De
Servo Arbitrio_ was shared by contemporary Lutheran theologians. They
expressed objections neither to the book itself nor to its public
endorsement by the _Formula of Concord_. In 1569 the theologians of
Ducal Saxony publicly declared their adherence to the doctrine "set
forth most luminously and skilfully (_summa luce et dexteritate
traditum_)" in _De Servo Arbitrio_, the _Commentary on Genesis_, and
other books of Luther. (Schluesselburg 6, 133.) That the authors of the
_F