This week in Christian history: Lutherans attempt unity with the Orthodox Church; Philip Neri dies
Lutherans attempt unity with the Orthodox Church – May 24, 1575
This week marks the anniversary of when a group of Lutherans began an attempt to unify their nascent denomination with the Eastern Orthodox Church, which ultimately failed.
The efforts came from a team of German theologians based at the University of Tübingen, led by Protestant professors Jacob Andreae and Martin Crusius.
The theologians sent three letters and a Greek translation of the Augsburg Confession — an influential statement of faith for Lutherans — to the Orthodox Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople.
Considered the first contact between Protestants and the Orthodox Church, the letters spurred dialogue; however, various theological disagreements prevented the two groups from uniting.
“In all, the correspondence on the Augsburg Confession resulted in three answers and three replies,” noted the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. “The three Answers of Patriarch Jeremiah II of Constantinople are important sources that restate the accurate teachings of the Orthodox Church.”
