AUGSBURG CONFESSION 539
AUGUSTA
in the mean while the Confession was not to he printed without imperial permission. The Protestant princes promised to comply with this ; but when, soon after the reading, an erroneous edition of the Confession appeared, it became necessary to have both the Latin and German texts published, which was done through Melancthon. On June 27 the Confession was given, in the presence of the whole assembly, to the Roman Catholic theologians to be refuted. The most promi- nent among them were Eck, Faber, Wimpina, Coeh- laeus, and Dietenberger. Before they got through with their work a letter was received from Erasmus, who had been asked for his opinion by cardinal Cam- pegius, recommending caution, and the concession of the Protestant demands concerning the marriage of the priests, monastic vows, and the Lord's Supper. On July 12 the Roman Catholic "Confutation" was presented, which so little pleased the emperor, that "of 280 leaves, only twelve remained whole." A new "Confutation" was therefore prepared and read to the Diet, August 3, by the imperial secretary Schweiss. No cop}' of it was given to the evangelical members of the Diet, and it was not published until 1573 (by Fabricius, in his Harmonia dmf. Aug. Co- logne, 1573 ; the German text in Chytrteus, Ilistorie der A ugsburg Con/., Rostock, 1576). Immediately after the reading of the Confutation, the Protestants were com- manded to conform to it. Negotiations for effecting a compromise were commenced by both parties, but led to no result. Negotiations between the Lutherans and the Zuinglians were equally fruitless. Zuinglius had sent to the emperor a memorial, dated July 4 {Ad Carolum Rom. Imperatorem comiiia Augnstw cele- brant em jidei Huldryehi Zwinglio ratio), and Bucer, Cap- ito, and Hedio had drawn up, in the name of the cities of Strasburg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lindau, the Confessio Tetrapolitana, which was presented to the em- peror Jul}' 11. Neither of these two confessions was read, and both were rejected.
Against the Roman Catholic "Confutation," Me- lancthon, at the request of the evangelical princes and cities, prepared an " Apology of the Confession" {Apo- logia Confessionis), which was presented by the chan- cellor Brack, on Sept. 22, to the emperor, who refused to receive it. Subsequently Melancthon received a copy of the " Confutation," which led to many altera- tions in the first draft of the Apology. It was then published in Latin, and in a German translation by Jonas (Wittenberg, 1531). A controversy subsequent- ly arose, in consequence of which Melancthon after 1540 made considerable alterations in the original Augsburg Confession, altering, especially in Art., x, the statement of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper in favor of the Reformed view. Melancthon, who had already before been charged with "crypto-Calvinism," was severely attacked on account of these alterations ; yet the "Confessio Variola" remained in the ascend- ency until 1580, when the Confessio Invariata was put into the " Concordienbuch" in its place, and thus the unaltered Confession has come to be generally regarded as the standard of the Lutheran churches. But the altered Confession has not ceased to find ad- vocates, and several branches of the Lutheran Church have even abrogated the authoritative character of the Confession, and do not demand from the clergy a be- lief in all its doctrines.
II. The following is the table of contents of the Con- fession and of the Apology: Part I. — 1. Acknowl- edges four oecumenical councils : — 2. Declares original sin to consist wholly in concupiscence : — 3. Contains the substance of the Apostles' Creed: — 4. Declares that justification is the effect of faith, exclusive of good works :— 5. Declares the Word of God and the sacraments to be the means of conveying the Holy Spirit, but never without faith : — 6". That faith must produce good works purely in obedience to God, and not in order to the meriting justification :— 7. The true
church consists of the godly only : — 8. Allows the va- lidity of the sacraments, though administered by the evil : — 9. Declares the necessity of infant baptism : — 10. Declares the real presence in the Eucharist, con- tinued with the elements only during the period of re- ceiving; insists upon communion in both kinds: — 11. Declares absolution to be necessary, but not so partic- ular confession :— 12. Against the Anabaptists :— 13. Requires actual faith in all who receive the sacra- ments:— 14. Forbids to teach in the church, or to ad- minister the sacraments, without being lawfully call- ed : — 15. Orders the observation of the holy days and ceremonies of the church: — 16. Of civil matters and marriage :— 17. Of the resurrection, last judgment, heaven, and hell :— 18. Of free will :— 19. That God is not the author of sin : — 20. That good works are not altogether unprofitable :— 21. Forbids the invocation of saints. Part II. — 1. Enjoins communion in both kinds, and forbids the procession of the holy sacra- ment:— 2. Condemns the law of celibacy of priests : — 3. Condemns private masses, and enjoins that some of the congregation shall always communicate with the priest : — 4. Against the necessity of auricular confes- sion:— 5. Against tradition and human ceremonies: — 6. Condemns monastic vows : — 7. Discriminates be- tween civil and religious power, and declares the pow- er of the church to consist only in preaching and ad- ministering the sacraments.