Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. F. Bente

in the doctrine itself, the Lutherans at that time, as the Preface to the Book of Concord shows, attached no further importance to the matter. The freedom with which in those days formal alterations were made even in public documents, and the guilelessness with which such changes were received, appears, for example, from the translation of the Apology by Justus Jonas. However, not all Lutherans even at that time were able to view Melanchthon's changes without apprehension and indifference. Among these was Elector John Frederick, who declared that he considered the Augustana to be the confession of those who had signed it, and not the private property of Melanchthon.

      In his admonition to Brueck of May 5, 1537, he says: "Thus Master Philip also is said to have arrogated to himself the privilege of changing in some points the Confession of Your Electoral Grace and the other princes and estates, made before His Imperial Majesty at Augsburg, to soften it and to print it elsewhere [a reprint of the changed Latin octavo edition of 1531 had been published 1535 at Augsburg and another at Hagenau] without the previous knowledge and approval of Your Electoral Grace and of the other estates which, in the opinion of Your Electoral Grace, he should justly have refrained from, since the Confession belongs primarily to Your Electoral Grace and the other estates; and from it [the alterations made] Your Electoral Grace and the other related estates might be charged that they are not certain of their doctrine and are also unstable. Besides, it is giving an offense to the people." (C. R. 3, 365.) Luther, too, is said to have remonstrated with Melanchthon for having altered the Confession. In his Introduction to the Augsburg Confession (Koenigsberg, 1577) Wigand reports: "I heard from Mr. George Rorarius that Dr. Luther said to Philip, 'Philip, Philip, you are not doing right in changing Augustanam Confessionem so often for it is not your, but the Church's book.'" Yet it is improbable that this should have occurred between 1537 and 1542, for in 1540 the Variata followed, which was changed still more in 1542, without arousing any public protest whatever.

      After Luther's death, however, when Melanchthon's doctrinal deviations became apparent, and the Melanchthonians and the loyal Lutherans became more and more opposed to one another, the Variata was rejected with increasing determination by the latter as the party-symbol of the Philippists. In 1560 Flacius asserted at Weimar that the Variata differed essentially from the Augustana. In the Reuss-Schoenburg Confession of 1567 the Variata was unqualifiedly condemned; for here we read: We confess "the old, true, unaltered Augsburg Confession, which later was changed, mutilated, misinterpreted, and falsified … by the Adiaphorists in many places both as regards the words and the substance (nach den Worten und sonst in den Haendeln), which thus became a buskin, Bundschuh, pantoffle, and a Polish boot, fitting both legs equally well [suiting Lutherans as well as Reformed] or a cloak and a changeling (Wechselbalg), by means of which Adiaphorists, Sacramentarians, Antinomians, new teachers of works, and the like hide, adorn, defend, and establish their errors and falsifications under the cover and name of the Augsburg Confession, pretending to be likewise confessors of the Augsburg Confession, for the sole purpose of enjoying with us under its shadow, against rain and hail, the common peace of the Empire, and selling, furthering, and spreading their errors under the semblance of friends so much the more easily and safely." (Kolde, Einleitung, 30.) In a sermon delivered at Wittenberg, Jacob Andreae also opposed the Variata very zealously.

      Thus the conditions without as well as within the Lutheran Church were such that a public declaration on the part of the genuine Lutherans as to their attitude toward the alterations of Melanchthon, notably in the Variata of 1540, became increasingly imperative. Especially the continued slanders, intrigues, and threats of the Papists necessitated such a declaration. As early as 1555, when the Peace of Augsburg was concluded, the Romanists attempted to limit its provisions to the adherents of the Augustana of 1530. At the religious colloquy of Worms, in 1557, the Jesuit Canisius, distinguishing between a pure and a falsified Augustana, demanded that the adherents of the latter be condemned, and excluded from the discussions.

      33. Alterations in Editions of 1531, 1533, 1540.

      As to the alterations themselves, the Latin text of the editio princeps of the Augsburg Confession of 1531 received the following additions: sec. 3 in Article 13, sec. 8 in Article 18, and sec. 26 in Article 26. Accordingly, these passages do not occur in the German text of the Book of Concord. Originally sec. 2 in the conclusion of Article 21 read: "Tota dissensio est de paucis quibusdam abusibus," and sec. 3 in Article 24: "Nam ad hoc praecipue opus est ceremoniis, ut doceant imperitos." The additions made to Articles 13 and 18 are also found in the German text of the editio princeps. (C. R. 26, 279. 564.)

      In the "Approbation" of the Leipzig theologians mentioned above we read: The octavo edition of the Augustana and the Apology printed 1531 by George Rauh, according to the unanimous testimony of our theologians, cannot be tolerated, "owing to the many additions and other changes originating from Philip Melanchthon. For if one compares the 20th Article of the Augsburg Confession as well as the last articles on the Abuses: 'Of Monastic Vows' and 'Of Ecclesiastical Authority,' it will readily be seen what great additions (laciniae) have been patched onto this Wittenberg octavo edition of 1531. The same thing has also been done with the Apology, especially in the article 'Of Justification and Good Works,' where often entire successive pages may be found which do not occur in the genuine copies. Furthermore, in the declaration regarding the article 'Of the Lord's Supper,' where Paul's words, that the bread is a communion of the body of Christ, etc., as well as the testimony of Theophylact concerning the presence of the body of Christ in the Supper have been omitted. Likewise in the defense of the articles 'Of Repentance,' 'Of Confession and Satisfaction,' 'Of Human Traditions,' 'Of the Marriage of Priests,' and 'Of Ecclesiastical Power,' where, again, entire pages have been added." (L.c. 8, 13; C. R. 27, 437.) In the German edition of the Augsburg Confession of 1533 it was especially Articles 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 15, and 20 that were remodeled. These alterations, however, involve no doctrinal changes, with the possible exception of Article 5, where the words "where and when He will" are expunged. (C. R. 26, 728.)

      As to the Variata of 1540, however, the extent of the 21 doctrinal articles was here almost doubled, and quite a number of material alterations were made. Chief among the latter are the following: In Article 5 the words, "ubi et quando visum est Deo," are omitted. In the 10th Article the rejection of the Reformed doctrine is deleted, and the following is substituted for the article proper: "De coena Domini docent, quod cum pane et vino vere exhibeantur corpus et sanguis Christi vescentibus in Coena Domini." (C. R. 26, 357.) The following sentences have also given offense: "Et cum hoc modo consolamur nos promissione seu Evangelio et erigimus nos fide, certo consequimur remissionem peccatorum, et simul datur nobis Spiritus Sanctus." "Cum Evangelium audimus aut cogitamus aut sacramenta tractamus et fide nos consolamur simul est efficax Spiritus Sanctus." (354.) For the words of the 18th Article: "sed haec fit in cordibus, cum per Verbum Spiritus Sanctus concipitur," the Variata substitutes: "Et Christus dicit: Sine me nihil potestis facere. Efficitur autem spiritualis iustitia in nobis, cum audiuvamur a Spiritu Sancto. Porro Spiritum Sanctum concipimus, cum Verbo Dei assentimur, ut nos fide in terroribus consolemur." (362.) Toward the end of the same article we read: "Quamquam enim externa opera aliquo modo potest efficere humana natura per sese, … verum timorem, veram fiduciam, patientiam, castitatem non potest efficere, nisi Spiritus Sanctus gubernet et adiuvet corda nostra." (363.) In the 19th Article the phrase "non adiuvante Deo" is erased, which, by the way, indicates that Melanchthon regarded these words as equivalent to those of the German text: "so Gott die Hand abgetan," for else he would have weakened the text against his own interests. (363.) To the 20th Article Melanchthon added the sentence: "Debet autem ad haec dona [Dei] accedere exercitatio nostra, quae et conservat ea et meretur incrementum, iuxta illud: Habenti dabitur. Et Augustinus praeclare dixit: Dilectio meretur incrementum dilectionis, cum videlicet exercetur." (311.)

      34. Alterations Render Confession Ambiguous.

      True in making all these changes, Melanchthon did not introduce any direct heresy into the Variata. He did, however, in the interest of his irenic and unionistic policy and dogmatic vacillations, render ambiguous and weaken the clear sense of the Augustana. By his changes he opened the door and cleared the way, as it were, for his deviations in the direction of Synergism, Calvinism (Lord's Supper), and Romanism (good works are necessary to salvation). Nor was Melanchthon a man who did not know what he was doing when he made alterations. Whenever