On the Controversies

In the aftermath of the Diet of Naumberg in February 1561, Martin Chemnitz and other faithful Lutheran theologians sought to reconcile the divisions among adherents of the Augsburg Confession which had developed following the Smalcald War and Emperor Charles V's imposition of his Augsburg Interim. In this slender volume, On the Controversies, Chemnitz addressed several of the central points of contention, rebuking error and encouraging the faithful to adhere to the biblical teachings of the Augsburg Confession, its Apology, and the Smalcald Articles. On the Controversies served as a first draft for portions of several of the articles of the Formula of Concord published in the Book of Concord (1580).