The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IV. Osiander Leads Nurnberg to Adopt Reformation Principles

ANDREAS OSIANDER (1498-1552), resolute champion of the Reformation, was born at Gunzenhausen, near Nurnberg, Bavaria, his real name being Hosemann. Educated at Leipzig, Altenburg, and Ingolstadt, he attained great proficiency in the ancient languages, especially Hebrew, which he studied at the University of Ingolstadt. He was also proficient in theology, mathematics, and medicine. Ordained a priest in 1520, he was appointed instructor in Hebrew in the Augustinian Convent in Nurnberg. In 1522 he issued an improved Latin version of the Bible, and as the city council of Nurnberg, according to its rights, had filled the provost’s offices of the parish churches of St. Lorenz and St. Sebald with men of the new school of thought, Osiander was called to be preacher at St. Lorenz, and soon became one of the outstanding figures of the Reformation in Nurnberg ⁴⁰ PFF2 295.1

1. OPENLY DISCOURSES ON ANTICHRIST FROM PROPHECIES

In March, 1524, when the papal delegate came to attend the Nurnberg Diet, the very next day Osiander openly preached on the Roman Antichrist. This mighty apostate power, he said, speaking terrible words against God, was seated in God’s temple, imperial Rome making room for him. He contended that, with the removal of Constantine from Rome, the papal Antichrist moved in. ⁴¹ PFF2 295.2

“I proved to my listeners, solely from the Holy Scriptures, who this Antichrist is, simply by lining up all the texts referring to him, and did not need to give any additional comments on them.... When Constantine moved out of Rome, the Antichrist moved in.” 41 PFF2 295.3

2. ILLUSTRATES AND REPRINTS JOACHIM’S WRITINGS

Finding two copies probably of Joachim’s writings, which the Spirituals had fittingly illustrated about 1278, Osiander had woodcuts made and adapted to Reformation times. It was titled Ein wun-derliche weissagung, von dem Bapstumb, wie es yhm bis an das ende der welt gehen sol, ynn figuren odder gemelde begriffen, gefunden zu Nurmberg ym Cartheuserkloster vnd ist seer alt (A Strange Prophecy of the Papacy and What Its Fate Will Be Till the End of the World, Illustrated with Symbols and Pictures Found in the Niirnberg Carthusian Convent). ⁴² Osiander wrote the foreword, and the Niirnberg master poet, Hans Sachs, wrote suitable verse for the woodcuts. ⁴³ One of the numerous pictures represents the strife between the pope and the emperor, showing the Roman eagle being compelled to kiss the pope’s feet, and the tiara above the imperial crown. Luther was highly pleased, but the authorities of the free city of Niirnberg realized that a conflict was nearing, and reprimanded Osiander, the printer, and Hans Sachs. Osiander also republished (1527) Hildegard’s so-called prophecy regarding the Papacy. ⁴⁴ Osiander took no position on the authority of such “prophecies,” but said the papists will not profit by any warning, be it by the mouth of Daniel, or Jesus, or the apostles, or by their own bishops, monks, or nuns, any more than the Jews profited by the voices of their prophets, of Christ, and the apostles. ⁴⁵ PFF2 296.1

From 1522 on, Osiander thundered against Antichrist, and offered, even while the papal legate Campegius was in the city, both elements of the communion to Queen Isabella of Denmark, sister of Charles V. Nor did he forget the common folk of the town, to whom he carried the Reformation truths. Thus Osiander was instrumental in introducing the Reformation into Niirnberg, and in obtaining its adoption by the city. In 1525 he wrote a severe polemic attacking the doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass. He was present at the Marburg Conference (1529), which sought to reconcile the Lutheran and Swiss theologians, as well as at the Augsburg Diet in 1530, and was one of the signers of the Schmalkalden (Smalkald) Articles in 1537. In this year he also published Harmoniae Evangelicae (A Harmony of the Gospels)—the first Protestant work of its kind—at the request of Archbishop Cranmer of England, who had married Osiander’s niece in 1532. PFF2 296.2

3. GOES TO KONIGSBERG BECAUSE OF CONTROVERSIES

His mathematical and astronomical accomplishments were such that he was invited by Copernicus to make corrections of his work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, and unknown to the author, he wrote a preface to it (1543). Osiander labored with marked success in behalf of the Reformation, defending it in public discussions with the Roman Catholic clergy. However, his violent disputes impaired his popularity, and his vehemence caused many enemies, for though able and learned, he was opinionated and quarrelsome. Cranmer had considered inviting him to England, but refrained because of his combative tendencies. PFF2 297.1

Osiander left Niirnberg in 1549 because of differences over the Interim compromise-that what is not expressly enjoined or forbidden by the divine Word may be accepted but not imposed by authority. He then became the head of the theological faculty—though without a degree—of the newly established University of Konigsberg in 1549, and in the next year engaged in controversy with Chemnitz over the nature of justification. In this discussion he held that justification is not to be understood as a judicial act but as a mystical indwelling of Christ and His righteousness in the heart of man. ⁴⁶ In spite of his agreement with Luther in opposing Romanism and Calvinism, his mysticism led him to interpret justification by faith as an infusion of the divine nature of Christ rather than an imputation. This controversy continued beyond the time of his death. ⁴⁷ PFF2 297.2

4.“CONJECTURES” RELATE TO TIME PROPHECY AND PAPACY

When Melanchthon sent his revised Commentary on Daniel to his friend Veit at Niirnberg, in 1543, he asked Osiander to furnish something more definite on the prophetic time periods of Daniel. In response, Osiander published in Latin and German (in 1544 and 1545 respectively) his Conjecture de Ultimis Temporis, ac de Fine Mundi (Conjectures Concerning the Last Times and the End of the World). This was translated into English by George Joye, and published in 1548—three years after the German edition. It was dedicated by Osiander to his patron, Prince Albrecht of Prussia, expressing joy that one of the ten horns (kingdoms) should hate the “Babylonian whore.” And he said, “May God also arouse the other horns against that mentioned beast, and make a speedy end of it.” ⁴⁸ Osiander understood Antichrist to be an ecclesiastical system, not an individual, to continue on until shortly before the end of the world. PFF2 298.1

In this work Osiander mentions Cardinal Cusa (1452), by whom he was influenced and from whom he evidently borrowed the essence of the idea as well as the title. In the dedication to Albrecht, Osiander prays that what he has written may arouse Christendom to the dangers of wicked Babylonian Rome, spoken of in Daniel and the Apocalypse. He contends that though no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s coming we may know the age and time, ⁴⁹ as the husbandman may detect the approach of summer. PFF2 298.2

5. TIME EXPECTATION BASED ON 6,000-YEAR THEORY

In chapters 1 and 2 Osiander cites and supports the 6,000-year expectation held both by the Jews in the Talmud and by certain” Gieseler, op. cit., vol. 4, pp. 469 ff. 48 Andreas Osiander, Vermutung von den letzten £eiten und dem Ende der welt, aus der heiligen Schrifft ge^ogen; see also Moller, Andreas Osiander, pp. 260-265. 48 Osiander, Vermulung, preface. LUTHER’S CO-REFORMERS STRESS INTERPRETATION 299 Christian writers. In fact, Osiander built his time expectation upon the analogy of the six days of creation week, and the 6,000 years of toil, to be followed by the eternal rest in the seventh thousand years. ⁵⁰ Osiander had a curious “angelic year,” containing as many common years as our common year has days. ⁵¹ He also followed Cusa’s concept of the years of Christ’s life as being typical of so many jubilee periods of fifty years. PFF2 298.3

6. PAPACY FOLLOWS IMPERIAL ROME FOR 1260 YEARS

In chapter 4 Osiander declares that in the prophecies of Daniel 7, Revelation 13 and 17, and 2 Thessalonians 2, Rome is pictured as twice obtaining world power-once as a nation, and then under the rule of the Papacy. The national dominion ceased at the sack of Rome by Alaric about 412 (410). Adding the 1260 years, the destruction of popery would, he thought, come in 672, the end of the world following soon thereafter. ⁵² PFF2 299.1

7. REAL ANTICHRIST OVERLOOKED WHILE AWAITING FICTITIOUS ONE

The papal contention-of Antichrist’s reign being or but three and a half literal years that were yet future—had caused them to look ahead for a fictitious Antichrist, and over look the real Antichrist at Rome, who had already exerted his influence for centuries. ⁵³ According to Revelation 13, Satan had given the glory of empire to the Papacy, the pope ruling over the secular and spiritual powers by means of a lie—the pre tended Donation of Constantine. Therefore, all who believe hat the Papacy is of God, in reality worship the devil. In order to preserve its power, it must forbid the preaching of God’s Word. The lamblike power of Revelation 13 is a group, which has the appearance of pious Christian teachers, but in reality these teachers are preaching not the Word of God but pagan philosophy from Aristotle, and they induce people to worship he pope. The speaking image refers to canon law, which is everywhere obeyed. The pope will fight and overcome the saints of the Lord, because all who do not accept this abomination are considered heretics and will be persecuted. ⁵⁴ PFF2 299.2

8. THE MARK AND NUMBER OF THE BEAST

Applying Revelation 13 to the Papacy, he explains the 666 as the number of its name in Hebrew—Malchuth Romijth (Roman kingdom). ⁵⁵ The mark is subservience to the Papacy, with its bans against buying and selling for those not subject to the pope-they are to be ban ished and deprived of temporal and spiritual help. ⁵⁶ PFF2 300.1

9. SEVEN HILLS AND TEN HORNS IDENTIFIED

The seven heads of Revelation 17 have a twofold meaning: First, literally, they refer to the seven hills on which the city of Rome was built; and second, symbolically they refer to the seven forms of Roman overnment; and the ten horns are kingdoms that Rome, as the head of all churches, recognizes—“Spain, Portugal, France, Eng land, Scotland, Denmark, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, and the Holy Roman Empire.” ⁵⁷ PFF2 300.2

10. THE POPE IS THE EIGHTH HEAD

The eighth head is the pope, who took the place of the emperors: PFF2 300.3

“He is in some respects very similar to them, yet in others very different. Those ruled in worldly fashion and fought against the Word of God with the sword, but he rules under the pretext of religion, and with the help of exegesis he falsifies and perverts the teachings of Christ, sullies His holy sacrament by his own supplements and abuses, and confirms the teaching of the devil; the son of perdition [the Pope], with his whole gang, will be hurtled into hell.” ⁵⁸ PFF2 300.4

His magniloquence consists of calling himself Christ’s vicar on earth, comparing himself with the sun in contrast to the emperor as the moon, and his blasphemy in changing and condemning the right use of the sacrament and establishing false teachings and superstitions. ⁵⁹ PFF2 300.5

11. 1260 YEARS POSSIBLY IN ANGELIC TIME

The time period is 1260 years, or forty-two months. PFF2 301.1

“These are angelic years, or prophetic time. Twelve hundred and sixty literal years which are also mentioned in the 12th chapter of Revelation, where it is also mentioned as a time, and times, and half a time.” ⁶⁰ PFF2 301.2

12. SECOND BEAST SAME AS FALSE PROPHET

The two-horned beast of Revelation 13 is the same as the false prophet of Revelation 19 who works miracles before the beast—the deceiving powers of the false teachers of the Papacy. The two-horned beast of Revelation 13 is further explained in Revelation 19:20, where it is called the false prophet, that wrought the signs in his sight wherewith he deceived them. Osiander understands thereby the theologians, scholastics, and doctors of canon law who are the real architects of popedom and who have pledged themselves by oath to do everything to uphold the pope, who is the first beast. The pope sits in the temple of God. ⁶¹ PFF2 301.3

13. TEN HORNS WILL DESTROY THE PAPACY

The ten horns, and not the Turk, will destroy the Papacy. The Roman emperor prevented the development of the Papacy, until the imperial obstacle was removed by his transfer from Rome to Constantinople. ⁶² PFF2 301.4

14. PAPACY PICTURED IN Matthew 24

Jesus also prophesied about this deception in Matthew 24. In its first period or “age” it grew stronger and stronger until it forced the emperor into subjection. During its second period, or “age,” it forced people into war against the unbelievers to convert them to Chrisianity by the sword (Crusades), hereby fulfilling Matthew 24:6-8. Then, in the “third age,” its rage turned against the heretics, and the resultant dreadful persecution fulfilled Matthew 24:9-13. Weakened in old age, he thought, the Papacy will be broken without human effort, as the Lord consumes it with the spirit of His mouth. ⁶³ Osiander closes his revealing Conjectures with these words: PFF2 301.5

“They are truly only conjectures, and in no wise divine revelations in themselves, but, nevertheless, I hold, that if my senses do not betray me, they are not far from the truth.” ⁶⁴ PFF2 302.1