In 1605 the Urbach minister Johann Sifard published a book titled The Mirror of Comets (Cometen Spiegel), which explored the history of comets and the misfortunes forewarned by these celestial phenomena. In the introduction of the book, Sifard states that ‘it is natural that each sensible person loves [his] fatherland’. Our Holy Roman Empire is the ‘forth and the last empire [‘Monarchey’]’, as Daniel's prophecy shows, and people are now warned by God through celestial signs because of their ingratitude towards God's Word and Sicherheit. He declares that it is out of his love and sympathy for ‘my fatherland Germany’ that he published this small book to warn people.

Though his statement can hardly be called unique, Sifard had enough reason to worry about the future of the Empire. The Formula of Concord finally established a confessional norm for the Lutheran Church, and it brought an end to decades of theological feuds among the clergy (though some theologians like Irenaeus continued their fight). However, the future of the Lutheran Church was still far from bright. Indeed, the years between Irenaeus's death and the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War was characterized by rapidly growing tensions between the confessional camps. Calvinists continued to expand their influence in Germany, while the restoration of Roman Catholicism was also in progress in many territories.