Bekennen un Verwerfen

As a student of Luther and Melanchthon, Joachim Westphal became a pastor in Hamburg in 1541. In the inner Evangelical controversy about the sacrament, he takes the floor against Johannes Calvin. Since then, research has drawn a one-sided portrait of him as a "quarrelsome and unforgiving Gnesiolutheran". Writings, sermons and letters that have not been considered so far provide a more nuanced picture of Westphal. After the introduction of Interim 1548, he took on an idiosyncratic position in the newly inflamed confessionalization process. He wrestles with Luther's legacy, transforms his teachings and differentiates himself from current, newly emerging discourses. Proximity and distance, orientation and delimitation, especially to Melanchthon, describe Westphal's struggle for its own theological profile. The present study outlines his way to the break with Melanchthon in Worms 1557 and presents Westphal in a previously unknown light.