HOLZHAUSER, BARTHOLOMAEUS. See Bab-
THOLOMITES, 2.
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Holy Week Homberg Synod
HOMBERG SYNOD AND CHURCH ORDER OF 1526.
I. The Homberg Synod. II. The Homberg Church Order.
Chapters i.-xiv., Ritual, Worship, etc. (§ 1). Chapters xv.-xxviii., Church Organization and Government (§ 2). Chapters xxix.-xxxiv., Instruction (§ 3). The Church Order never Officially Adopted (§ 4). Excellences and Defects of the Church Order (§ 5). Its Models and Sources (§ 6).
I. The Homberg Synod: Even before Luther's dramatic appearance, the lords of the State in Germany, no less than in France and England, had extended their prerogatives into the sphere of ecclesiastical affairs. The decision of the Diet of Speyer, Aug. 27, 1526, which allowed every sovereign authority, pending the meeting of a council, to decide matters of faith for itself and its province, recognizing its accountability to God and the emperor, conceded, even though in limited terms, a canonical basis for the application of territorialism in favor of the Reformation. Landgrave Philip of Hesse had the sagacity to utilize the situation in a judicious manner and convened an assembly of spiritual and temporal estates at Homberg (20 m. s.w. of Cassel) Oct. 20, 1526, " to deal in the grace of the Almighty with Christian matters and disputes." The proceedings were opened in the church at Homberg on Sunday, Oct. 21. To promote discussion, the former Francisean Franz Lambert (q.v.), of Avignon, had put forth 158 articles of debate (paradoxa) , which had already been posted on the church doors. After the opening speech by the chancellor, Johann Feige, Lambert read his theses, and proceeded to substantiate them from Scripture and to enumerate the abuses of the Church. In the afternoon Adam Krafft, of Fulda, translated Lambert's theses into German, and challenged whoever found them at variance with God's Word to declare himself. Only the Franciscan prior Nicholas Ferber, of Marburg, came forward, and took the floor the following morning. He flatly contested the landgrave's authority to hold a synod, to undertake ecclesiastical changes, and to pass any measures in the affairs of the Christian faith; since this was altogether the privilege of the pope, the bishops, and the Church. When the chancellor urged the duty of the civil authorities to abolish abuses and idolatry Ferber still more sharply contested the assembly's competency to deal with an ecclesiastical question, and finally he attacked the prince's character for laying hands on the goods of the Church. He did not succeed, however, in giving another turn to the proceedings; nor did he attempt to refute the proffered articles of debate. He soon afterward left Hesse, and issued at Cologne Assertiones trecentce ac viginti adversus Fr. Lamberti paradoxa impia ; and subsequently Assertiones alia. On the following day (Tuesday, Oct. 23), when the synod was on the point of closing, there appeared unexpectedly Master Johann Sperber, of Waldau, near Cassel, and made a vain attempt to justify the invocation of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, by the angelic salutation in Luke i.
II. The Homberg Church Order: As a result of the deliberations of a committee appointed prior to the closing of the synod, there was issued the
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Homberg church order, or Reformatio Hessice, which in thirty-four chapters deals with the entire
sphere of church life. Foremost stands
1. Chapters the declaration that the Word of God
i.-xiv., shall be the only norm (i.-ii.). It is
Ritual, affirmed in the passage concerning the
Worship, Lord's Supper (iii.-iv.) that " Christ
etc. is present in this supper, God and
man " ; provision is made for administration of the sacrament under both kinds; and the observance of the " ritual which Martin Luther has just written in German " (i.e., Die deutsche Messe, 1526) is ordered. The wearing of a mass gown, the lighting of candles, and the use of a suitable cup are recommended; but the recitation of the canon of the mass and of all prayers in which the terms " sacrifice " and " host " occur, the invocation of the saints, and the like are forbidden. It is also enjoined that the organ be played not at all, or only very seldom, because it ministers to the ear alone; and, furthermore, that the pompous peal of bells be avoided. At daily morning and evening service, held in the native language, the Old and New Testament Scriptures are to be read (v.). Obligatory confession and the avowal of separate sins (vi.), with fasting, are repealed, but fast-days may be appointed by the civil ruler and by the congregation; in the latter case, however, not in the way of obligation (vii.) . Chapter viii., " Concerning Festivals," reduces their number, and sets forth that for the faithful all days, properly considered, are alike, save that Sunday and the other festival days are sanctioned to the end that God's Word may be freely heard by the whole congregation. The important social principle is declared that on such days, apart from the hours of divine service, and without scruple of conscience, it is allowable to ply one's calling, since this is better than idleness; but one has no right to compel hired people to work at such times. No tolerance is accorded to images and altars in the churches — only the altar from which the Lord's Supper is administered shall remain, and it shall be called not altar, but table; it is temperately subjoined, however, that these things are not to be removed by the civil authority until the congregation may have neglected to remove them, after the Gospel shall have been preached some considerable time (ix.). "Superstitious benedictions " of bread, wine, water, salt, etc., are forbidden, and in place of them grace at meals is recommended, though not as a matter of compulsion (x.). The passage on baptism (xi.), visitation of the sick (xii.), form of burial (xiii.), and marriage (xiv.) follow, and then come the provisions affecting the congregational and ecclesiastical organization (xv. sqq.), the clauses which have made this church order famous.
Their dominating ideas are as follows: The congregations of the faithful are the foundation of the entire Church (xv.) ; and they are constituted by means of a separation of the true brethren from the false. The organization of these congregations shall be preceded by a more or less prolonged proclaiming of the Gospel; and, furthermore, by a preparatory season of one month, during which the prospective organization shall be advertised
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