Rethinking an Old Proverb: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. And in all things charity.”

If I mentioned the name Rupertus Meldenius, most of my readers would have no idea who he was. Having lived during the 1600’s, Meldenius is credited with authoring the Christian mantra that now permeates the modern evangelical world, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. And in all things charity.” Found in a tract that circulated during the Thirty Years War, it is essential that we read and understand it in that context.

Some have described the Thirty Years War as one of the most brutal wars in human history. It was a conflict that began, said one writer,

as a religious conflict, and was fought between 1618 and 1648. It resulted in widespread destruction, and it bankrupted the majority of the powers involved. The Thirty Year’s War began when the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II was elected, and he began to impose religious uniformity – Catholicism – throughout Europe. That caused a revolt on the part of Protestant communities…[1]

Beginning in 1618 and ending in 1648, then, it was a three decade war that “resulted,” continued the same source, “in more than eight million fatalities throughout Europe.” I repeat, eight million-plus fatalities!

Basically, then, the war began as a religious one in which men unmercifully slaughtered one another for their doctrinal differences. It was in this context that Meldenius emerged and wrote his tract, “A Reminder for Peace at the Church of the Augsburg Confession of Theologians.”[2] The iconic Church historian, Philip Schaff, highlighted this war-torn context when he wrote,

It was during the fiercest dogmatic controversies and the horrors of the Thirty Years' War that a prophetic voice whispered to future generations the watchword of Christian peacemakers, which was unheeded in a century of intolerance, and forgotten in a century of indifference, but resounds with increased force in a century of revival and reunion.[3]

Notice how Schaff both reminded us of the War’s fierceness and then labeled Meldenius “a prophetic voice” who “whispered to future generations the watchword of Christian peacemakers….” For this reason, the wisdom of Meldenius’s proverb is undeniable and its timing impeccable. It reveals the fact that he not only detested the violence associated with the doctrinal differences but responded with a love-based prescription for peace.

Notably, this contextual soil from which the proverb emerged helps explain at least two things. First, it helps explain why some think that Rupertus Meldenius was a pseudo-name for “Peter Meiderlin.”[4] After all, a religious tract calling for peace in such a time when Christian sects considered lethal violence the only solution to their differences could have made him a high level target to any of the warring factions.  

Second, and perhaps most important to my purpose here, the context helps explain that while Meldenius desired to stop killing as the chosen means of settling doctrinal differences, the devout Lutheran never objected to the doctrinal diversity of his day. In fact, and per Schaff again, “The author of this tract is an orthodox Lutheran, who was far from the idea of ecclesiastical union, but anxious for the peace of the church and zealous for practical scriptural piety…”[5] Schaff made it clear, here, that while Meldenius intended to stop the brutalities that reduced the world’s population by over eight million people, “ecclesiastical union” was “far from” his intent in the tract. Meldenius, then, campaigned for the humane treatment of each other in the face of doctrinal diversity and not for, as Schaff tells us, “ecclesiastical union.”  

In conclusion, I must say that reading Meldenius’s proverb with its historical context in mind has me “rethinking” its original purpose verses the purpose for which it is used today. While Meldenius detested the bloodshed spawned by doctrinal differences, he seemed “far” from pushing ecclesiastical unity. He did not contend that Christian love should unify all ecclesiastical groups but that those same groups should treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. In other words, he seemed content with the ecclesiastical diversity of his day and did not see said diversity as an unloving reality. Hence, Meldenius’s proverb, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. And in all things, charity,” was never intended as a call for ecclesiastical unity but a call for true Christian love in spite of those doctrinal differences.

[1] Thirty Years' War: A History from Beginning to End [Wars in European History], May 22, 2023 Published by “Hourly History.”

[2] Wikipedia: In my search, finding an English translation of Meldenius’s was not found until I finally consulted “Wikipedia.” Wikipedia noted that the bulk of its information was largely from one source. Its actual title was, “Paraenesis votiva pro pace ecclesiae ad theologos Augustanae confessionis auctore Ruperto Meldenio Theologo [Rottenburg, 1626].”

[3] Philip Schaff, “History of the Christian Church,” Vol. 7, p. 650

[4] Stephen J March, “Peter Meiderlin The Pacificator,” Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu/43505964/Peter_Meiderlin_The_Pacificator

[5] Schaff, 651