Responding to Bishop Robert Ceneau, Sorbonnist, Bucer's subject-matter is twofold. Firstly, maintained is the compatibility of Reformation theology with Scripture, Patristic testimony, and the "saner Scholastics". Secondly, denying association with the heresy of Berengar, Bucer develops his perception of a common eucharistic theology among the Reformers, a theology Bucer finds corroborated in Scripture and Christian antiquity. After a plea for a fair hearing for the Reformation in France, Part I irenically surveys controverted dogmas and practices. Part II substantiates the thesis of fundamental harmony between Lutheran and Zwinglian eucharistic views. Part III rebuts Ceneau's polemical abuse. Republished as an Appendix is Bucer's contemporary memorandum on the viability of wider Church reunion. The tract reflects a significant transitional phase in Bucer's accommodation to both Catholic tradition and the Wittenberg sacramental theology.

Rethinking the Wittenberg Concord for Today One of the mostly forgotten gems of the sixteenth century Reformations is the Wittenberg Concord. Signed in 1536 by representatives of evangelical southern German imperial cities and territories and the Lutherans, the dialogue that led to the concord provided space for the participants to have a meaningful dialogue that led to the recognition of each other's understanding of the sacraments as orthodox. This was remarkable, given the very public failures at Marburg in 1529 and Augsburg in 1530. The lack of agreement threatened the unity of the evangelical estates and made them, along with the Reformation teachings, vulnerable to attack by the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. The dialogue participants created enough space in their own understandings of the sacraments of baptism, absolution, and the Lord's Supper to allow the agreement to occur--and function reasonably well, at least until the beginning of the Thirty Years War in 1618. The final two chapters explore how this concord has impacted the church since its acceptance, and how the lessons learned from this dialogue can assist churches today in providing healthy spaces for ecumenical dialogue to discuss controversial issues.

This bilingual edition of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625) provides English readers access to an influential textbook of Reformed Orthodoxy. Composed by four professors at the University of Leiden (Johannes Polyander, Andreas Rivetus, Antonius Walaeus, and Anthonius Thysius), it offers a presentation of Reformed theology as it was conceived in the first decades of the seventeenth century. From a decidedly Reformed perspective, the Christian doctrine is defined in contrast with alternative or diverging views, such as those of Roman Catholics, Arminians, and Socinians. The Synopsis responds to challenges coming from the immediate theological, social, and philosophical contexts. The disputations in this the third volume cover such topics as the sacraments, church discipline, the role of civil authorities, and eschatology. This volume also presents a thorough historical and theological introduction to the whole of the Synopsis.