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Historical Introductions
to the Symbolical books
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
by F. Bente
Published in:
_Triglot Concordia:
The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church_.
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921)
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IV. Melanchthon's Alterations of the Augsburg Confession
30. Changes Unwarranted.
Melanchthon continued uninterruptedly to polish and correct the
Augsburg Confession till immediately before its presentation on June
25, 1530. While, indeed, he cannot be censured for doing this, it was,
though originally not so intended by Melanchthon, an act of
presumption to continue to alter the document after it had been
adopted, signed, and publicly presented. Even the _editio princeps_ of
1531 is no longer in literal agreement with the original manuscripts.
For this reason the German text embodied in the Book of Concord is not
the one contained in the _editio princeps_, but that of the Mainz
Manuscript, which, as stated, was erroneously believed to be the
identical German copy presented to the Emperor. The Latin text of the
_editio princeps_, embodied in the Book of Concord, had likewise
undergone some, though unessential, changes. These alterations became
much more extensive in the Latin octavo edition of 1531 and in the
German revision of 1533. The Variata of 1540 and 1542, however, capped
the climax as far as changes are concerned, some of them being very
questionable also doctrinally. In their "Approbation" of the Concordia-
Germanico-Latina, edited by Reineecius, 1708, the Leipzig theologians
remark pertinently: Melanchthon found it "impossible to leave a book
as it once was." Witness his Loci of 1521, which he remodeled three
times - 1536, 1542, and 1548. However, the Looi were his own private
work, while the Augustana was the property and confession of the
Church.
Tschackert is right when he comments as follows: "To-day it is
regarded as an almost incomprehensible trait of Melanchthon's
character, that immediately after the Diet and all his lifetime he
regarded the Confession as a private production of his pen, and made
changes in it as often as he had it printed, while he, more so than
others, could but evaluate it as a state-paper of the Evangelical
estates, which, having been read and delivered in solemn session,
represented an important document of German history, both secular and
ecclesiastical. In extenuation it is said that Melanchthon made these
changes in pedagogical interests, namely, in order to clarifv terms or
to explain them more definitely; furthermore, that for decades the
Evangelical estates and theologians did not take offense at
Melanchthon's changes. Both may be true. But this does not change the
fact that the chief editor of the Confession did not appreciate the
world-historical significance of this statepaper of the Evangelical
estates." (L. c. 288.) Nor can it be denied that Melanchthon made
these changes, not merely in pedagogical interests, but, at least a
number of them, also in the interest of his deviating dogmatic views
and in, deference to Philip of Hesse, who favored a union with the
Swiss. Nor can Melanchthon be fully cleared of dissimulation in this
matter. The revised Apology of 1540, for example, he openly designated
on the titlepage as "diligently revised, _diligenter recognita_"; but
in the case of the Augsburg Confession of 1540 and 1542 he in no way
indicated that it was a changed and augmented edition.
A" yet it has not been definitely ascertained when -and where the
terms "Variata" and "Invariata" originated. At the princes' diet of
Naumburg, in 1561, the Variata was designated as the "amended" edition.
The Reuss Confession of 1567 contains the term "unaltered Augsburg
Confession." In its Epitome as well as in its Thorough Declaration the
Formula of Concord speaks of "the First Unaltered Augsburg Confession
- _Augustana illa prima et non mutata Confessio._" (777, 4; 851, 5.)
The Preface to the Formula of Concord repeatedly speaks of the Variata
of 1540 as "the other edition of the Augsburg Confession - _attera
Augustaitae Confessionis editio._" (13 f.)
31. Detrimental Consequences of Alterations.
The changes made in the Augsburg Confession brought great distress,
heavy cares, and bitter struggles upon the Lutheran Church, both from
within and without. Church history records the manifold and sinister
ways in which they were exploited by the Reformed as well as the
Papists; especially by the latter (the Jesuits) at the religious
colloquies, beginning 1540, until far into the time of the Thirty
Years' War, in order to deprive the Lutherans of the blessings
guaranteed by the religious Peace of Augsburg, 1555. (Salig, _Gesch.
d. A. K._, 1, 770 ff.; _Lehre und Wehre_ 1919, 218 ff.)
On Melanchthon's alterations of the Augsburg Confession the Romanists,
as the Preface to the Book of Concord explains, based the reproach and
slander that the Lutherans themselves did not know "which is the true
and genuine Augsburg Confession." (15.) Decrying the Lutherans, they
boldly declared "that not two preachers are found who agree in each
and every article of the Augsburg Confession, but that they are rent
asunder and separated from one another to such an extent that they
themselves no longer know what is the Augsburg Confession and its
proper sense." (1095.) Inspite of the express declaration of the
Lutherans at Naumburg, 1561, that they were minded to abide by the
original Augsburg Confession as presented to Emperor Charles V at
Augsburg, 1530, the Papists and the Reformed did not cease their
calumniations, but continued to interpret their declarations to mean,
"as though we the Lutherans] were so uncertain concerning our religion,
and so often had transfused it from one formula to another, that it
was no longer clear to us or our theologians what is the Confession
once offered to the Emperor at Augsburg." (11.)
As a result of the numerous and, in part, radical changes made by
Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession, the Reformed also, in the
course of time more and more, laid claim to the Variata and appealed
to it over against the loyal Lutherans. In particular, they regarded
and interpreted the alteration which Melanchthon had made in Article X,
Of the Lord's Supper, as a correction of the original Augustana in
deference to the views of Calvinism. Calvin declared that he (1539 at
Strassburg) had signed the Augustana "in the sense in which its author
[Melanchthon] explains it (_sicut eam autor ipse interpretatur_)." And
whenever the Reformed, who were regarded as confessionally related to
the Augsburg Confession (_Confessioni Augustanae addicti_), and as
such shared in the blessings of the Peace of Augsburg (1555) and the
Peace of Westphalia (1648), adopted, and appealed to the Augustana,
they interpreted it according to the Variata.
Referring to this abuse on the part of the Reformed and Crypto-
Calvinists, the Preface to the Book of Concord remarks: "To these
disadvantages [the slanders of the Romanists] there is also added that,
under the pretext of the Augsburg Confession [Variata of 1540], the
teaching conflicting with the institution of the Holy Supper of the
body and blood of Christ and also other corruptions were introduced
here and there into the churches and schools." (11. 17.) Thus the
changes made in the Augsburg Confession did much harm to the Lutheran
cause. Melanchthon belongs to the class of 'Men that have greatly
benefited our Church, but have also seriously harmed it. "These
fictions" of the adversaries, says the Preface to the Book of Concord
concerning the slanders based on Melanchthon's changes, "have deterred
and alienated many good men from our churches, schools, doctrine,
faith, and confession." (11.)
32. Attitude toward Variata.
John Eck was the first who, in 1541, at the religious colloquy of
Worms, publicly protested against the Variata. But since it was
apparent that most of the changes were intended merely as
reenforeements of the Lutheran position against the Papists, and
Melanchthon also declared that he had made no changes in "the matter
and substance or in the sense," i. e., 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: ^U 3 in Article 13, ^U 8 in Article 18, and ^U 26 in Article
26. Accordingly, these passages do not occur in the German text of the
Book of Concord. Originally ^U 2 in the conclusion of Article 21 read:
_"Tota dissensio est de paucis quibusdam abusibus,_" and ^U 3 in
Article 24: "_Nam ad hoe praeciptie opus est ceremonies, 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 wai 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 hoe 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 sacraments
tractamus et fide nos consolamur, _simul_ est efficax Spiritus
Sanctus." (354.) For the words of the 18th Article: "sed haeo 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 _adiuvamur_ 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 pracclare
dixit: Dilectio meretur incrementum dilectionis, cum videlicet
exercetur." (371.)
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 Augstana. 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 he
weakened and trimmed the doctrines he had once confessed, whether in
his Loci or in the Augustana, he did so in order to satisfy definite
interests of his own, interests selfevidently not subservient to, but
conflicting with, the clear expression and bold confession of the old
Lutheran truth.
Kolde, referring in particular to the changes made in the 10th
Article, says: "It should never have been denied that these
alterations involved real changes. The motives which actuated
Melanchthon cannot be definitely ascertained, neither from his own
expressions nor from contemporary remarks of his circle of
acquaintances" [As late as 1575 Selneecer reports that Philip of Hesse
had asked Melanchthon to erase the _improbatio_ of the 10th Article,
because then also the Swiss would accept the Augustana as their
confession]. "A comparison with the Wittenberg Concord of May, 1536
(_cum pane et vino vere et substantialiter adesse_ - that the body
and blood [of Christ] are really and substantially present with the
bread and wine, _C.R._ 3, 75) justifles the assumption that by using
the form: cum pane et vino vere exhibeantur, he endeavored to take
into account the existing agreement with the South Germans
(Oberlaender). However, when, at the same time, he omits the words:
_vere et substantialiter adesse,_ and the _improbatio_, it cannot, in
view of his gradually changed conception of the Lord's Supper, be
doubted that he sought to leave open for himself and others the
possibility of associating also with the Swiss." (25.)
An adequate answer to the question what prompted Melanchthon to make
his alterations will embrace also the following points: 1.
Melanchthon's mania for changing and remodeling in general. 2. His
desire, especially after the breach between the Lutherans and the
Papists seemed incurable, to meet and satisfy the criticism that the
Augustana was too mild, and to reenforce the Lutheran position over
against the Papists. 3. Melanchthon's doctrinal deviations, especially
in Reformed and synergistic directions.
35. Variata Disowned by Lutheran Church.
It cannot be denied that during Luther's life and for quite a time
after his death the Variata was used by Lutherans without any public
opposition and recognized as the Augsburg Confession. Martin Chemnitz,
in his "Iudicium de Controversiis quibusdam circa quosdam Augustanae
Confessionis Articulos - Decision concerning Certain Controversies
about Some Articles of the Augsburg Confession," printed 1597, says
that the edition of 1540 was employed at the religious colloquies with
the previous knowledge and approval of Luther; in fact, that it was
drawn up especially for the Colloquy at Hagenau, which the opponents
(Cochlaeus at Worms, Pighius at Regensburg) had taken amiss.
"Graviter tulerant," says Chemnitz, "multis articulis pleniori
declarations plusculum lucis accessisse, unde videbant veras
sententias magis illustrari et Thaidis Babyloniae turpitudinem
manifestius denudare -They took it amiss that more light had been shed
on many articles by a fuller explanation, whence they perceived the
true statements to be more fully illustrated and the shame of the
Babylonian Thais to be more fully disclosed." (Mueller, _Einleitung_,
72.)
Furthermore, it is equally certain that, on the part of the Lutheran
princes, the Variata was employed without any sinister intentions
whatever, and without the slightest thought of deviating even in the
least from the doctrine of the original Augustana, as has been falsely
asserted by Heppe, Weber, and others. Wherever the Variata was adopted
by Lutheran princes and theologians, it was never for the purpose of
weakening the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession in any point.
Moreover, the sole reason always was to accentuate and present more
clearly the contrast between themselves and the Papists; and,
generally speaking, the Variata did serve this purpose. True,
Melanchthon at the same time, no doubt, planned to prepare the way for
his doctrinal innovations; but wherever such was the case, he kept it
strictly to himself.
The complete guilelessness and good faith in which the Lutheran
princes and theologians employed the Variata, and permitted its use,
appears from the Preface to the Book of Concord. For here they state:
"Therefore we have decided in this writing to testify publicly, and to
inform all, that we wished neither then nor now in any way to defend,
or excuse, or to approve, as agreeing with the Gospel-doctrine, false
and godless doctrines and opinions which may lie concealed under
certain coverings of words [in the Variata]. We, indeed, never
received the latter edition of 1540] in a sense differing in any part
from the former which was presented [at Augsburg]. Neither do we judge
that other useful writings of Dr. Philip Melanchthon, or of Brenz,
Urban Regius, Pomeranus, etc., should be rejected and condemned, as
far as, in all things, they agree with the norm which has been set
forth in the Book of Concord." (17.)
Accordingly, when the Variata was boldly exploited by the Romanists
to circulate all manner of slanders about the Lutherans; when it also
became increasinzlv evident that the Reformed and Crypto-Calvinists
employed the Variata as a cover for their false doctrine of the Lord's
Supper; when, furthermore, within the Lutheran Church the suspicion
gradually grew into conviction that Melanchthon, by his alterations,
had indeed intended to foist doctrinal deviations upon the Lutheran
Church; and when, finally, a close scrutiny of the Variata had
unmistakably revealed the fact that it actually did deviate from the
original document not only in extent, but also with regard to intent,
not merely formally, but materially as well, - all loyal Lutheran
princes and theologians regarded it as self-evident that they
unanimously and solemnly declare their exclusive adherence to the
Augsburg Confession as presented to Emperor Charles at Augsburg, and
abandon the Variata without delay. At Naumburg, in 1561, the Lutheran
princes, therefore, after some vacillation, declared that they would
adhere to the original Augsburg Confession and its "genuine Christian
declaration and norm," the Smalcald Articles. Frederick III of the
Palatinate alone withdrew, and before long joined the Calvinists by
introducing the Heidelberg Catechism, thus revealing the spuriousness
of his own Lutheranism.
It was due especially to the Crypto-Calvinists in Electoral Saxony
and to the _Corpus Doctrinae Philippicum_ that the Variata retained a
temporary and local authority, until it was finally and generally
disowned by the Lutheran Church and excluded from its symbols by the
adoption of the Formula of Concord. For here our Church pledges
adherence to "the First, Unaltered Auisburg Confession, delivered to
the Emperor Charles V at Augsburg in the year 1530, in the great Diet."
(777, 4; 847, 5; 851, 5.) And in the Preface to the Book of Concord
the princes and estates declare: "Accordingly, in order that no
persons may permit themselves to be disturbed by the charges of our
adversaries spun out of their own minds, by which they boast that not
even we are certain which is the true and genuine Augsburg Confession,
but that both those who are now among the living and posterity may be
clearly and firmly taught and informed what that godly Confession is
which we and the churches and schools of our realms at all times
professed and embraced, we emphatically testify that next to the pure
and immutable truth of God's Word we wish to embrace the first
Augsburg Confession alone which was presented to the Emperor Charles
V, in the year 1530, at the famous Diet of Augsburg, this alone (we
say), and no other." (15.) At the same time the princes furthermore
protest that also the adoption of the Formula of Concord did not make
any change in this respect. For doctrinally the Formula of Concord was
not, nor was it intended to be, a "new or differeiat confession," i.
e., different from the one presented to Emperor Charles V. (20.)
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