The making and meaning of the Augsburg confession

Contents

PAGE THe MAKING OF THE CONFESSION 00. 0.0500. cae cde a ee eee 5 THE MEANING OF THE CONFESSION... ....c0c00ccaseveeeses 25 THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION—PREFACE........scceeee8 27 Part I. THe CHIEF ARTICLES OF FAITH........ 33

Part II. ARTICLES IN WHICH ARE REVIEWED THE ABUSES WHICH HAVE BEEN CORRECTED 95 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

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TITLE-PAGE FROM THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION PRINTED IN LATIN IN 1531

The Making of the Confession

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EMPEROR CHARLES V From an engraving by Bartel Beham, 1531

“‘TORGAU, MARCH 14, 1530.

We graciously desire to inform you that we have received from His Imperial Majesty, our most gracious Lord, the summons to a diet, in which we, together with the other estates of the Holy Empire, are summoned to Augsburg to a diet on the 8th day of April next, where it is said that His Imperial _ Majesty intends to be present‘in person. The contents of the said summons we send you in the enclosed copy.”

So ran the opening words of a letter that came in the middle of March, 1530, to Wittenberg, addressed to Dr. Martin Luther, Dr. Justus Jonas, and Master Philip Melanchthon. It was sent by their prince, the Duke of Saxony, who, because he was one of seven men who had the right to elect the emperor of the - Holy Roman Empire, bore the title of Elector. He was writing from his castle in Torgau, and in the course of the letter he commands “Dr. Luther, Dr. Jonas, and Master Philip Melanchthon, that you will arrange your affairs at home and also make provision in our university at Wittenberg, so far as that is possible, for the holding of lectures in your absence, so that on a day which we shall name you will be with us again at Torgau and travel with us, along with Masters Spalatin and Agricola, so far as Coburg.” From there the elector meant to go on to Augsburg, and if it were allowed by the emperor, he would have these men accompany him,

Otherwise they would have to stay at Coburg. Especially Luther, the elector thought, might have to remain there.

Enclosed with the letter was a copy of the emperor’s summons. Among other things it declared, “Because of the duty you owe to us and to the empire we command you to appear in person at Augsburg on that day, together with the other princes and estates,...that we may take up the matter of deliverance from the Turk; further, how, because of error and division, it may be possible to deal and determine in respect to the holy faith and the Christian religion.

“And in order that this may occur in a more wholesome way, we desire to settle the differences, abandon obstinacy, give over past erroneousness into the hand of our Redeemer, and use diligence to listen to, understand, and weigh every expression, opinion, and view in love and graciousness among ourselves, to compare and to bring them to a single Christian truth, and to do away with everything that has not been explained or transacted right on both sides, that we all may hold one single and true religion, and, as we all are and do battle under one Christ, we may thus all live in one Commonwealth, one Church, and one unity....

“Given on the first and twentieth day of January.

CAROL.”

Emperor Charles V was thus summoning the princes and the representatives of the cities of Germany to a congress, or Diet, in the ancient city of Augsburg, for the 8th of April. He was in Italy at this time, but he hoped shortly to proceed across the Alps and meet the German estates on the appointed day. Two large problems were confronting him and he wanted the coming Diet to settle them. - Over to the east, Solyman II, Sultan of the wild Turkish armies, was threatening Vienna. Charles needed German help to defend the imperial lands in Hungary and ward off the peril of an invasion of the Turks. The second problem was the strife in Germany over a new preaching and the rebellion of many teachers and rulers from the power of the pope. This condition must be settled and Charles intended to have it done at Augsburg.

The emperor knew something about the man who had started the religious trouble. Nine years before, he had seen and heard him at the Diet of the German princes and estates at Worms. He had heard the monk whose name was Luther claim that he could not take back what he had been teaching concerning the errors and sins of the Roman Church. Charles and the Diet had condemned him, and had hoped that would be the end of the disturbance. But Luther’s prince was powerful, and Luther had many friends among the German rulers who were not friendly to the pope or the emperor. So Luther was protected and had gone on teaching by spoken and written word these many years. It irritated Charles, for this man and his little group were opposing themselves to the mightiest ruler of all Christendom. Was not Charles master of half the earth? He was king of Spain and all its newly discovered possessions in the Western Hemisphere. He reigned over the Netherlands, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. He had claims in Italy and in France. Over German territories he was emperor. Yet this Wittenberg preacher defied his power and command. Had not the possession of so many kingdoms brought with it many enemies, Charles might have set to work immediately to silence Luther. But he had wars with France and the Turk and the pope to hinder him. In 1529, however, he had vanquished his foes. The French had been defeated in battle, the pope besieged in his own Roman castle. The latter was won to friendship, and in 1529, at Bologna, he crowned Charles as Holy Roman -Emperor. Now there remained but the Turks and the Lutherans to subdue; pope and emperor were one in the desire that both these foes be dealt with in summary fashion.

‘During the years since the Diet of Worms Lutheran teachings had spread far and wide. All of northern Germany was opposed to Rome. Sweden and Denmark were forever lost to the papacy. Southern Germany also was influenced by the Reformation, though Zwingli and Calvin, rather than Luther, were the guiding spirits here and in Switzerland. So powerful were the Lutheran princes by 1526 that at the Diet of Spires they had secured the right to. control the religion of their territories. But by 1529 the victories of Charles were taking effect, and . in the Second Diet of Spires the Lutherans were told that the Edict of Worms must be enforced and the old faith nowhere suppressed. Here it was that the protest was made which earned for the evangelical party the name of Protestants. It was apparent that clouds were gathering, and it was predicted that before long the Roman Church would again be supreme. Some there were who could see no other means of maintaining their faith than by the sword, or at least, by alliances for self-defense,

Such an one was Philip, the Landgrave of Hesse. Tirelessly he labored to bring together the Lutheran princes and those that followed Zwingli in the interpretation of the Lord’s Supper. In October, 1529, he arranged a conference of theologians at his castle, at Marburg, between Luther and Melanchthon, Zwingli and Oecolampadius. The desired agreement could not be reached, for Luther would not depart from the Word of God. Articles of agreement and disagreement, however, were drawn up, as a result of this conference. They have been called the Mar-

_burg Articles. To make the Lutheran position still clearer, in case a federation could be effected between the northern and southern groups, Luther worked over the Marburg Articles for a conference of rulers at Schwabach. But not even there did Philip attain his purpose. From the clear statements of the Schwabach Articles the Lutherans would not depart, and the Zwinglians would not assent to them. The Protestants remained divided in the face of a dark future.

Now the emperor was on his way to Germany and had called together its rulers to meet him at Augsburg. The Protestants suspected that it would be a fateful assemblage. Elector John at his castle

_ in Torgau began immediately to make preparations. We turn again to the letter he dispatched to the Wittenberg theologians. ‘Since, then, among the weightiest matters that are to be discussed at this diet, one is that of ‘the division in our Christian religion’—therefore we consider that great and inevitable necessity requires—since this diet will take the place of a national council—that all the articles

_kecause of which the said division continues—shall

Lo THE MAKING AND MEANING be put in form before the diet begins,” etc. Further on we read, “No one can better or more fully consider them or give advice about them than you.” The elector required that they put aside all other things and prepare a statement concerning the faith and practices of the purified Church and bring this to him at Torgau by March 20.

At Wittenberg, Melanchthon, Jonas, and Bugenhagen at once set to work with Luther on the proposed document. They confined themselves to the abuses in the Roman Church which they opposed, such as, private mass, the celibacy of the clergy, the temporal power of bishops, confession of particular sins, etc. They seem not to have been ready by the stated time, for Luther and Melanchthon did not reach Torgau before the last days of March. They presented their work to the elector, and from the name of the place the statement has been called the Torgau Articles. With these and the Schwabach Articles the elector was in some measure prepared for what might be demanded at Augsburg. He had received information that the emperor would not reach Augsburg by April 8, and so delayed his own departure. On April 3, Melanchthon, Luther, and Jonas left Wittenberg and accompanied the elector as far as the boundary town of Coburg. Luther was under the ban of the empire since 1521 and could naturally get no safe-conduct, or pass, outside of the territories of the prince who protected him. So the elector left him at the fortress of Coburg, where only the music of the birds and the comfort of the Word of God could allay the anxiety he felt for the coming days at Augsburg. The rest of the party went on, and reached their destination on May 2.

Crossing the Alps, the emperor tarried at Innsbrtick. It was not long before he revealed the spirit in which he had come to conciliate the Germans and reunite the Church. When first the call came for a diet, Luther and Melanchthon had hopes of safety and success. Luther thought well of Charles, admiring especially his silence. ‘He says less in one year than I do in one day,” he said of the emperor. But Luther feared the influence of the imperial councilors, of Ferdinand, the brother of Charles, and of the “bee-swarm” of papal representatives around the throne. The emperor’s high chancellor, Mercurinus Gattinara, was an exception, for he was known to be friendly to the Reformers and counseled moderation. But when the emperor reached Innsbriick the foes of the evangelical party surrounded him. Duke George of Saxony and the Bavarian dukes went to meet him, and their influence boded no good for the Protestants. At Innsbriick, also, was Christian II, the deposed king of Denmark, the brother-in-law of Charles, who now returned to the Roman Church. At this place and time, too, John Eck published a book slandering the Lutherans. The Bavarian dukes had commanded the theological faculty at Ingolstadt to collect the errors and heresies of Luther, preparatory to the Diet. This Eck had done, and the result was, “404 Theses; some pertaining to the disputations at Leipzig, Baden, and Bern, others drawn from the writings of those disturbing the peace of the church.” Every conceivable statement and misstatement was herein included as a wholesale condemnation of the teachings of Luther and other “heretics.”” And when news reached Innsbriick that Protestant preachers were making trouble in Augsburg, the emperor forbade their preaching. The dawn of hope for an amicable and fair discussion of religious differences at the Diet was turning slowly into a day of doubt and despair for the evangelical party. Hoping in some measure to convey to the emperor the nonheretical nature of his own faith, the elector had sent Charles a copy of the Schwabach Articles as his personal confession, but it had no other effect on Charles than to hasten him on to the conclusion that the religious differences must be terminated.

While the emperor thus was keeping court at Innsbriick and hearing every manner of evil report against the Protestants, the elector and his party waited at Augsburg. The members of it were not idle. Melanchthon had been writing a long Introduction to the Articles as presented at Torgau. And when the bitter attack of Eck was published, it became clear that it would not be enough to tell the - emperor what abuses in the Church Luther and his followers opposed. Nothing less would suffice than a statement of what the Lutherans believed. The emperor would have to be convinced that they were not heretics, least of all such as the Spaniards pictured them—atheistic and irreligious. An attempt would have to be made to show that the Reformers were true to the faith of the Church of Christ, truer in fact than the Romanists who had departed from that faith. To this task Melanchthon committed himself, and by the 11th of May had a copy of the proposed articles ready for Luther. In his letter. to Luther, Melanchthon wrote, “Our Apology is being sent you, but in truth it is rather a Confession.—I have said that which I believed most useful or proper. On this ground I have succinctly given nearly all the Articles of Faith, since Eck has circulated the most satanic slanders against us. Over against these, I wished to oppose a remedy.” Melanchthon’s Confession was a defense of the elector of Saxony, seeking to prove that he had not sanctioned heretical teachings in his territory, but had given his protection to the teaching of the Word of God and the practices of the early Christian Church. Of this work of Philip, Luther wrote to the elector, “TI have read the Apology of M. Philip. It pleases me right well, and I do not know what to improve or change in it; neither would it be proper, for I cannot tread so gently and quietly. Christ our Lord help that it bear much fruit and great fruit, as we hope and pray.”

Meanwhile the Protestants were gathering in Augsburg. When the leading Catholic princes went to Innsbriick to greet the emperor, the Saxon elector _also offered to come and meet him. His offer, however, found no response at the imperial court. So he continued to wait until the delay grew wearisome, and disquieting news made him think of returning home. Then the emperor bade him welcome, and soon set out for Augsburg. The elector was not alone in his defense of Luther and the Protestants, though up to the present he had chosen to pursue an independent policy. Landgrave Philip rode into Augsburg at the head of about one hundred horsemen on May 12, revealing that force was not foreign to his plans for the future. Philip wanted, and had long wanted, a federation of the Protestants to counterbalance the threats of their foes. He did not expect much of the Diet, and was opposed to having the Diet settle the religious question, for he suspected it would not act favorably to the Protestants. In Augsburg he continued to work on his favorite plan to unite the princes of southern Germany with those of the northern territories in a common stand at the Diet. But the elector of Saxony was content with Melanchthon’s work, which, as we have seen, was a defense of the Saxon prince before the emperor. The other Lutherans came without any policy other than the thought that they might be permitted to act together with the elector. Margrave George of Brandenburg had gathered opinions from his theologians, but had no final statement to contribute. The representatives of Nuremberg came with an “Opinion,” but they, as well as the remaining Protestants, looked to Saxony for leadership. So, until the approach of Charles, the Protestants remained divided, uncertain, fearful. The counsels of the natural born leader among them, Philip, were opposed by the counsels of the elector, whose power and prestige made him the decisive member of the group. The rest waited, wondering what course the future would open to them.

Finally on June 15 the emperor reached the city of Augsburg. He came in a manner befitting his position, that of the mightiest monarch of Christendom, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. At the bridge that spanned the Lech River, below the fortresses of the city, the elector, who was kinsman to Charles, and Marshal of the Empire, met his sovereign. Words of welcome were spoken by the archbishop of Mainz. The Papal Legate Campeggius, with the Cardinal-archbishop of Salzburg on the one hand and the Cardinal-archbishop of Trent on the other, blessed the assembly, which contained Spaniards, Italians, Netherlanders, and Germans. The procession moved on into the city, soldiers and princes in advance, and high dignitaries of the empire and the Church following. They were met at the cathedral by the bishop of Augsburg, who presided at the ceremonies here. It was late night before the emperor reached his quarters at the bishop’s palace, his festive éntry completed.

But the day’s work was not completed. He had summoned to his apartment the leading Protestant princes, the elector, the Margrave George, the Landgrave Philip, the Prince of Anhalt, and the Duke of Liineburg. Through his interpreter, his brother, King Ferdinand, Charles demanded again that Protestant preaching in Augsburg cease during the Diet. It was a critical moment. Hitherto there had been no unity in the action of the Protestants. Now they were forced to act as one. Up to this time they had hoped for an impartial consideration of their cause at the Diet. Here, before it opened, their case was prejudged. Would they accede to the imperial request? No! “The conscience of His Imperial Majesty,” said Philip, after the margrave had defended Protestant preaching, “is not the lord and ruler of our conscience.” And once more Margrave George spoke, “Before I could deny my God and His Gospel, I would kneel down here at Your Majesty’s feet and have my head struck off.” The emperor persisted in his demand, the princes, in their refusal. Equally persistent were they in their refusal to the demand of the emperor that they accompany him in the procession of the sacrament on June 16, which was Corpus Christi Day (the Day of the Body of the Lord). They had come, they said, to have abuses remedied at the Diet, not repeated. It was an inauspicious beginning of a conference intended to create religious harmony and peace. The Protestants did not march in the procession. The preaching did cease, but only after the preaching of the Romanists also had been silenced by the emperor. Both sides were to await the outcome of the Diet.

The Diet opened formally and with pomp on Monday, June 20: After services in the cathedral, the estates convened in the town hall. Six electors, forty-two princes, delegates from cities, bishops and ambassadors gathered here, with the emperor seated on a golden throne. In the speech from the throne, read by the Count Palatine, the assembly was informed that it was the hope of the emperor that at this Diet religious concord might be established. The Protestants, however, had already felt the trend of things. They missed the conciliatory spirit of Gattinara, for this friendly chancellor had died at Innsbriick. Before a diet unfriendly from the start the Protestants must plead their cause unaided.

Since the arrival of the emperor they had been busy. The elector of Saxony saw that he could no longer defend his cause alone. The time for united action had come. The document prepared by Melanchthon, however, referred only to preaching and practices in Saxony. It had to be revised so as to apply to all the evangelical territories. The margrave of Brandenburg and the representatives of Nuremberg were first admitted to the counsels of the elector. Landgrave Philip was not yet satisfied.

He held out the hope that the southern German Protestants also might be taken into the alliance. But Melanchthon and the elector were opposed. They would not alter the Confession, and the Zwinglians would not submit to the Lutheran doctrines of the Lord’s Supper. Philip had to enter the alliance, without the Zwinglians. He did gain something of importance, however. From the start he had been opposed to the Diet becoming the court of last resort, so that its decision should be final. He succeeded in writing into the Confession an appeal to a Church Council for its vindication. Neither the emperor nor the Diet could determine the faith of the Church. The emperor himself and previous diets had called for such a council. While defending their faith, the Lutherans continued to ask for the convening of a body able and willing to adjudge the matters in dispute. This demand was made in the new Introduction to the Confession. For Melanchthon’s lenghty Introduction in defense of the elector had been found unsuitable, and Dr. Greg. Briick, chancellor at the’Saxon court, wrote another Introduction, in the name and on behalf of all the signatories. By June 21 the Confession was assuming the form in which it might be presented to the emperor.

Strangely enough there was one man, none other than Melanchthon, who had entertained for a while the hope that the Confession might not have to be presented. The threatening attitude of the emperor awakened within him a desire to reach an amicable agreement by other methods. He put himself into communication with a couple of the secretaries of the emperor, and at first saw some gleam of hope in the replies of Alphonso Valdes, the Spanish secretary. Through Valdes, Melanchthon informed Charles that the Lutheran differences were not so many nor so great that they might not be met by sympathetic imperial and church authorities. But when the emperor asked Melanchthon for an authoritative statement, sanctioned by the princes, and Melanchthon laid the proposition before them, this course of action was frustrated. The Lutherans would not leave their cause to the mercies of diplomacy. They were at Augsburg. to make known, not to conceal their faith. Now they were agreed that the emperor could not be made judge of religious questions, and that they would appeal to a Council of the Church. For the present they would unite in a common confession of what they believed and a defense of the changes that had been made in the churches of their territories. For this purpose Melanchthon’s work was adopted, with a few changes, such as he himself continued to the last to make in the language of the articles. As an introduction, Chancellor Briick’s statement was to be used. By June 23 the Confession was ready. It was signed, not by the theologians, but by the princes and the representatives of the cities. The emperor had called for its reading on the following day. |

The Diet convened late on Friday the 24, and the emperor was inclined to have the Protestants hand over their document to him. But they insisted on reading it. They had been accused publicly; they wanted a public defense accorded them. The emperor yielded to the extent of postponing the matter to the following afternoon, when they were told to present their document in his residence, at a private session of the Diet.

In the chapter room of the bishop’s palace, about 83 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, June 25, the Lutherans and the emperor again faced each other. The chapel was small, but it opened on a court, and the court was filled with an eager throng. The two Saxon chancellors came forward, Dr. Greg. Britick with the Latin, Dr. Chr. Beyer with the German copy of the Confession. Charles understood little German, and preferred to have the Latin statement read. Elector John, however, asked that the German copy might be read, since the Diet was being held on German soil. The request was granted. In tones so loud and clear that those outside could hear, Dr. Beyer read his copy, reading for almost two hours. When he had finished, the two copies were presented to the emperor, who kept the Latin copy and gave the German to the imperial chancellor, the elector of Maintz. Publication of the Confession was prohibited by the emperor.

Thus was proclaimed before Charles V the faith that had been condemned at Worms, but now was defended by strong rulers and many peoples. Luther, when at Coburg he heard of the event, saw fulfilled the words of the 118th Psalm: “I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings.” The Augsburg Confession had been given to the world, the ~ first and the most important of creedal statements since the days of the great ecumenical creeds of Nicaea and of Athanasius.

The Confession is divided into two parts. Part I consists of the XXI Articles which prove that the preaching of the Lutherans is consistent with Holy

Scripture and with the ancient teaching of the Church, so that ‘‘they judge harshly who insist that our teachers be regarded as heretics.” These articles throughout make plain that the evangelical churches have not broken with universal Christian doctrines, but in common with the ancient Church condemn all teachings not in accord with the Word of God. They clearly differentiate between the Lutheran teaching and that of the Anabaptists, since Eck had wanted to confuse the two. The second part of the Confession, Articles XXII-XXVIII, has to do with those abuses in the Roman Church which the Lutherans had opposed, because these abuses “have crept into the Church without rightful authority.”

Luther admitted that he could not “tread so softly and gently’ as Melanchthon had done in writing the Confession. Yet he approved of the Confession and thanked God for it. As we shall see from a study of its contents, the Confession i$ throughout the teaching of Luther, though the form is Melanchthon’s. Its pacific and conciliatory tone we will more readily- understand if we remember that Melanchthon and the signers of the Confession still nourished the hope that the emperor would treat them justly and seek to reform those abuses in the Church which had led to the Reformation. We recall the original intention of the Reformers simply to present what became the second part of the Confession, that on abuses. The fierce treatise of Eck caused a change of policy, for now the evangelical party was compelled to show what it believed as well as what it opposed. Thus the statement became a Confession of Faith, and circumstances made it a confession not only of Luther’s prince, Elector John of Saxony, but of all the Lutheran princes and territories. More than that, it has become the Confession of the whole Lutheran Church these past four hundred years. The Diet of Augsburg ended in failure, as far as its purpose had been a reconciliation of Romanists and Protestants. But out of the Diet had come one of the documents of world history, the Confessio Augustana, the creedal constitution of the Church of the Lutheran Reformation.

éeS VBDOMINIte

TITLE-PAGE OF ECK’S 404 THESES CIRCULATED AT AUGSBURG, TO WHICH THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION IS IN PART A REPLY

The Meaning of the Confession

THE OLD TOWN HALL OF AUGSBURG WHERE THE IMPERIAL DIET MET IN 1530

Delivered to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg, 1530 A.D.

Preface

Most Invincible Emperor, Cesar Augustus, Most

Clement Lord:

Inasmuch as Your Imperial Majesty has summoned a Diet of the Empire here at Augsburg to deliberate concerning measures against the Turk, that most atrocious, hereditary and ancient enemy of the Christian name and religion, in what way effectually to withstand his furor and assaults by strong and lasting military provision; and then also concerning dissensions in the matter of our holy religion and Christian Faith, that in this matter of - religion the opinions and judgments of parties might be heard in each other’s presence, and considered and weighed among ourselves in charity, leniency, and mutual kindness, to the end that the things in the Scriptures which on either side have been differently interpreted or misunderstood, being corrected and laid aside, these matters may he settled and brought back to one perfect truth and Christian concord, that for the future one pure and true religion may be embraced and maintained by us, that as we all serve and do battle under one Christ, so we may be able also to live in unity and concord in the one Christian Church. And inasmuch as we, the undersigned Electors and Princes, with others joined with us, have been called to the aforesaid Diet, the same as the other Electors, Princes, and Estates, in obedient compliance with the Imperial mandate we have come to Augsburg,