After the death of
Martin Luther, several theological controversies arose among
Lutherans due mostly to the teachings of
Philip Melanchthon. Gnesio-Lutherans were profiled by defending Martin Luther's doctrine, led initially by
Matthias Flacius. The Gnesio-Lutherans exercised strict doctrinal discipline, but they also opposed with equal determination what they considered to be the errors of their fellow combatants, such as von Amsdorf (
Amsdorfians), Flacius (Flacians),
Andreas Poach, and others. Gnesio-Lutherans were involved in: • The
Adiaphoristic controversy. • The
Majoristic controversy (
Nicolaus von Amsdorf,
Nicolaus Gallus). • The
second Antinomian controversy (
Andreas Poach,
Anton Otto). • The
Synergistic controversy (
Matthias Flacius,
Nicolaus Gallus). • The
Osiandrian controversy . • The
Crypto-Calvinistic controversy. The Crypto-Calvinistic controversy was the largest of the controversies of the second generation of the Lutheran Reformation. Since it was far more fundamental to the Lutheran Church, Lutherans outside of the Flacian party took the Gnesio-Lutheran position against Philippism and Crypto-Calvinism. In the middle between the
Philippists and the Gnesio-Lutherans, the Centrist Party included
Johannes Brenz,
Jakob Andreae,
Martin Chemnitz,
Nikolaus Selnecker,
David Chytraeus,
Andreas Musculus, and others. Unlike the Gnesio-Lutherans, members of the centre party were opposed to any unnecessary controversies involving no doctrinal differences, and careful not to fall into any extreme position themselves. The Gnesio-Lutheran
Joachim Westphal was the first to write to defend the
Real Presence against the
Calvinists, and Melanchthon stigmatized his and other Gnesio-Lutherans' doctrine as "bread worship". The Gnesio-Lutherans practice
Eucharistic adoration, following Martin Luther's treatise titled
The Adoration of the Sacrament, in which he defended the practice of Eucharistic adoration. == Notes ==