Consideratio variarvm controversiarvm, videlicent earum, quae nobis intercedunt cum Atheis, Gentilibus, Judaeis, Mahomedanis, Socinianis, Anabaptistis, Pontificiis, & Reformatis

Helmstedt: Apud Georgium Wolgangum Hammium [Georg Wolfgang Hamm], 1704. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to (201 x 166mm). [8], 608pp, [22] (but with pages 265-384 misbound between pages 202-203). Title printed in red and black. Woodcut device of fleur de lis on title and woodcut chapter head and tail pieces. Contemporary sheep-backed boards; (top of spine chipped, front joint splitting, light edgewear). Bookplate of the Newton Theological Institution in rural Massachusetts. The seminary is known for its Baptist radicalism and core American values, and is now called the Andover Newton Theological School.

Rare work on conversion and the politics of religion in early modern Germany, Fabricius’s “Helmstedt Affair.” First edition of Fabricius’s Consideratio variorum Controversiarum, an abridged edition appeared in 1715. The Consideratio was printed in Latin and not German showing that it was aimed at a wider audience. Johann Fabricus was a staunch Lutheran theologian and professor at both Altorf and Helmstedt. In 1701 he was appointed Abbott of Konigslutter, and in 1703, Counselor of the Consistory of the Dukedom of Brunswick. In 1704 he published the Consideratio, which so incensed the strict Lutherans that Fabricius was bitterly attacked on all sides. He argued that Catholics and Lutherans agreed on their catechetic essentials and avoided massive topics like the infallibility of the pope. The circumstances of the treatise’s publication are somewhat dubious, but Roman Catholics possibly first published it against the author’s will. In fact, Fabricius denied his authorship even though he never objected to the content. In the wake of the “Helmstedt opinion,” which seemed to imply that Lutheranism resembled Roman Catholicism, the very essentials of the “Protestant Cause” seemed to be at stake. In fact, this same year Fabricius’s Gutachten (1704) was published in which he decidedly recommended that Princess Elizabeth Christine of New Brunswick embrace Catholicism to be married to Emperor Charles VI. The work caused great scandal and brought about his dismissal from university. This debate over her eventual conversion interfered with the ongoing efforts of “irenicist” Protestant theologians. As an advocate for Lutheran and Catholic reconciliation, the dynastic marriage drove a wedge between Fabricius and his contemporaries. The “rabble-rouser” Fabricius retired to the countryside. His commentary during these years, which played down the disagreements between Lutherans and Catholics, sparked wide-ranging disputes throughout Protestant Germany. A very rare survival given its controversial nature.