Church to maintain her identity and independence
was to settle her controversies not by evading or compromising the
doctrinal issues involved, but by honestly facing and definitely
deciding them in accordance with her principles: the Word of God and the
old confessions. Particularly with respect to the doctrine of the Lord's
Supper, Melanchthon by constantly altering the _Augsburg Confession_,
had muddied the water to such an extent that the adoption of the
_Augustana_ was no longer a clear test of Lutheran orthodoxy and
loyalty. Even Calvin, and the German Reformed generally subscribed to
it, "in the sense," they said, "in which Melanchthon has explained it."
The result was a corruption of Lutheranism and a pernicious Calvinistic
propaganda in Lutheran territories. A new confession was the only means
of ending the confusion and checking the invasion.

290. Formula Fully Met Requirements.

The _Formula of Concord_ was just such a confession as the situation
called for. The Preface to the _Apology of the Book of Concord_, signed
by Kirchner, Selneccer, and Chemnitz, remarks that the purpose of the
_Formula_ was "to establish and propagate unity in the Lutheran churches
and schools, and to check the Sacramentarian leaven and other
corruptions and sects." This purpose was fully attained by the
_Formula_. It maintained and vindicated the old Lutheran symbols. It
cleared our Church from all manner of foreign spirits which threatened
to transform its very character. It settled the controversies by
rendering a clear and correct decision on all doctrinal questions
involved. It unified our Church when she was threatened with hopeless
division, anarchy, and utter ruin. It surrounded her with a wall of fire
against all her enemies. It made her a most uncomfortable place for such
opponents of Lutheranism as Crypto-Calvinists, unionists, etc. It
infused her with confidence, self-consciousness, conviction, a clear
knowledge of her own position over against the errors of other churches
and sects, and last, but not least, with a most remarkable vitality.

Wherever and whenever, in the course of time, the _Formula of Concord_
was ignored, despised, or rejected, the Lutheran Church fell an easy
prey to unionism and sectarianism; but wherever and whenever the
_Formula_ was held in high esteem, Lutheranism flourished and its
enemies were confounded. Says Schaff: "Outside of Germany the Lutheran
Church is stunted in its normal growth, or