...it is the dogma, that is, the doctrine of Scripture, which stamps these various branches of theology as theological disciplines and unifies them. It is the function of historical theology not only to give a historically true picture of the events, but also to evaluate these established facts in the light of Scripture.
Religious Freedom.
[by J. C. W. Lindemann] (Cont'd from Part 2)
All this quickly changed when his son Rudolph II came to power (1576-1612). The Protestant service in Vienna had to be stopped; the same was to happen in all cities and markets; except for the nobility, no one was to enjoy religious freedom. Many Lutheran preachers now had to leave the country; Catholic preachers were forcibly installed in their place; other means of coercion were also used to reintroduce the Papacy. The Emperor's brother Matthias even advised that the religious freedom that had been granted should be completely revoked. Then the higher estates formed an alliance with each other to assert it by force. When Matthias (1608) [Page 17] became master of the country and could not do without the help of the estates, they succeeded in 1609 in having the so-called Capitulation Resolution [p. 155 here] promise them once again the free exercise of their religion, but only in the castles and other dwellings in the country, in which other members of their faith were to be allowed to participate. Matthias also promised that justice would be done for the churches that had been taken from them. But these promises were not made public, and soon it was as if they had never been made. The Lutherans complained about this, but it did not help.
When Matthias (1612-19) died, he was succeeded as emperor and lord of Austria by Ferdinand II. (1619—37). He had already vowed to the Virgin Mary at Loretto to exterminate all heretics in his hereditary lands of Styria, and had fulfilled his vow with bloody earnestness. 4) Now the Protestant estates demanded assurance of their religious freedom before they would pay homage. But by soldiers, who raged cruelly among them, they were forced to take the oath. Many noble men who would not submit had to leave the country. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria came to Austria in 1620 with a war army, and now began a bloody persecution of the Lutherans, which did not cease until their public religious practice had been destroyed throughout Austria.
4) He ordered then that within a fortnight all Lutheran churches and schools should be closed. No objection, no pleading helped. With his soldiers he went from place to place and restored Catholic worship everywhere. Whoever did not want to comply had to leave the country or was punished with sword, gallows and wheel. (Redenbacher III, 97.)
The Lutherans in Steyermark, Carinthia, and Carniola fared quite similarly. —
Many in the archdiocese of Salzburg had also accepted Luther's teachings. There were probably already Waldensians and Hussites there before the Reformation. Johann von Staupitz, Luther's friend, who died in 1525 in St. Peter's Monastery in Salzburg, and others who were like-minded to him, gradually brought the evangelical truth to the people, at least they did not hinder its proclamation. Thousands turned to the Gospel, and because they could not have preachers, they all the more eagerly read the Bible and good books of edification. Especially in the Tefferegg Valley there were many Lutherans who passed on their faith to their children and children's children.
But they only met secretly, prayed and read the Bible; for their sovereign was the Roman archbishop, who was not allowed to tolerate "heretics" in his country. But they were betrayed to him and now had to endure all kinds of persecution. In 1684, through the intercession of the Protestant princes of the empire, a thousand of their members were granted permission to leave their homeland; but not only were their assets retained, but also their children, so that they could be educated in the allegedly "only saving faith.” At that time, the well-known Joseph Schaitberger came to Nuremberg, who had endured severe imprisonment for the sake of his Lutheran faith, but now (especially in his excellent "Evangelical Epistle") instructed the remaining fellow believers and encouraged them to stand firm.
In the time that followed, the Protestant Salzburgers enjoyed considerable peace in their homeland. Because of the weakness of their knowledge, they outwardly adhered to the Roman Church and were tolerated by their Catholic sovereigns as faithful and industrious subjects.
But after the Count of Firmian had become archbishop, a new terrible persecution fell upon them. He was a miserly and worldly-minded man, who lived shut up in the castle of Clesheim in the company of a noble lady, and chiefly amused himself with games and hunting. The affairs of government were attended to by the Court Chancellor, Dr. Christiani Räll, a Tyrolean who knew little of the German imperial constitution.
Both prince and chancellor were determined to exterminate the evangelicals; they only waited for a favorable opportunity. This was soon found. Pope Benedict XIII promised an indulgence of many years to anyone who would use the greeting "Praised be Jesus Christ" and the reply "From now on until eternity.” The Protestant Salzburgers considered it a sin to use this greeting, partly because it was prescribed by the Pope and connected with indulgences, and partly because it was an abuse of the name of Jesus. The Jesuits, who had been sent to them to instruct them, and who demanded the prescribed salutation of them, could now easily find out who was of a good Catholic or Protestant mind. The houses of the latter were searched; their Bibles and other books were taken from them; all meetings were forbidden to them; those who disobeyed were thrown into prison. Many were so tormented that they became Catholics again out of fear and pain. That was in 1729, and those who had been so cruelly persecuted turned to their fellow Protestants and sought help from the German imperial estates.
A cry of indignation went through Protestant Germany at that time. In 1730, the envoys gathered in Regensburg turned to the archbishop, made representations to him, and asked him to allow the emigration. But the archbishop would not hear of it, and even called the Lutherans rebels, because they had sought help from foreign princes. Several more were put in chains and bands; the emperor was induced to send several thousand soldiers into the country, who were to suppress the pretended rebellion, and were placed in the houses of the Protestants. By such cruel treatment it was thought to force the pretended "apostates" to return to the Catholic Church!
In October 1731 the Archbishop was finally compelled to grant the so-called emigration patent [or “Edict of Expulsion of Protestants”]. But this had been dictated by the bitterest hatred. Only a few months were allowed for the persecuted to prepare for departure; they were more expelled than released; after many acts of violence, robberies and all conceivable drudgeries, 800 were finally chased out of the country in the middle of winter.
New ideas in Salzburg and Vienna on the part of the Protestants were of little help. Then, in 1732, King Frederick William of Prussia threatened that, [Page 18] if the archbishop did not change his procedure, the numerous Catholics in Prussia should pay for it. The archbishop was now not allowed to carry on his wickedness any further; he had to permit free departure. And now, from 1732 to 1740, about thirty thousand Salzburgers emigrated to enjoy free religious practice in other countries. About twenty thousand settled in Prussian-Lithuania; the rest remained in other German countries; some also moved here, settled in Georgia and founded Ebenezer there.
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