piety)
as well as we ourselves have acknowledged and professed. We mean that
doctrine, which, having been derived from the prophetic and apostolic
Scriptures, is contained in the three ancient Creeds, in the _Augsburg
Confession_, presented in the year 1530 to Emperor Charles V, of
excellent memory, then in the _Apology_, which was added to this, in the
_Smalcald Articles_, and lastly in both the Catechisms of that excellent
man, Dr. Luther. _Therefore we also have determined not to depart even a
finger's breadth either from the subjects themselves, or from the
phrases which are found in them_, but, the Spirit of the Lord aiding us,
to persevere constantly, with the greatest harmony, in this godly
agreement, and we intend to examine all controversies according to this
true norm and declaration of the pure doctrine." (CONC. TRIGL. 23.) In
the Comprehensive Summary we read: "We [the framers and signers of the
_Formula of Concord_] have declared to one another with heart and mouth
that we will not make or receive _a separate or new confession of our
faith_, but confess the public common writings which always and
everywhere were held and used as such symbols or common confessions in
all the churches of the _Augsburg Confession_ before the dissensions
arose among those who accept the _Augsburg Confession_, and as long as
in all articles there was on all sides a unanimous adherence to the pure
doctrine of the divine Word, as the sainted Dr. Luther explained it."
(851, 2. 9.) The _Formula of Concord_ therefore did not wish to offer
anything that was new doctrinally. It merely expressed the consensus of
all loyal Lutherans, and applied the truths contained in the existing
symbols to the questions raised in the various controversies.

286. Formula a Reaffirmation of Genuine Lutheranism.

To restore Luther's doctrine, such was the declared purpose of the
promoters and authors of the _Formula of Concord_. And in deciding the
controverted questions, they certainly did most faithfully adhere to
Luther's teaching. The _Formula_ is an exact, clear, consistent, and
guarded statement of original Lutheranism purified of all foreign
elements later on injected into it by the Philippists and other
errorists. It embodies the old Lutheran doctrine, as distinguished not
merely from Romanism and Calvinism, but also from Melanchthonianism and
other innovations after the death of Luther. Surely Luther would not
have hesitated to endorse each an