Books: The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
P >>
Philip Melanchthon >> The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 | 18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25
Therefore the blasphemy of ascribing Christ's honor to our works is
not to be endured. These theologians are now entirely without shame
if they dare to bring such an opinion into the Church. Nor do we
doubt that His Most Excellent Imperial Majesty and very many of the
princes would not have allowed this passage to remain in the
_Confutation_ if they had been admonished of it. Here we could cite
infinite testimonies from Scripture and from the Fathers [that this
article is certainly divine and true, and this is the sacred and
divine truth. For there is hardly a syllable, hardly a leaf in the
Bible, in the principal books of the Holy Scriptures where this is
not clearly stated.] But also above we have said enough on this
subject. And there is no need of more testimonies for one who knows
why Christ has been given to us, who knows that Christ is the
propitiation for our sins. [God-fearing, pious hearts that know well
why Christ has been given, who for all the possessions and kingdoms
of the world would not be without Christ as our only Treasure, our
only Mediator and Redeemer must here be shocked and terrified that
God's holy Word and Truth should be so openly despised and condemned
by poor men.] Isaiah says, 53, 6: The Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquities of us all. The adversaries, on the other hand, [accuse
Isaiah and the entire Bible of lying and teach that God lays our
iniquities not on Christ, but on our [beggarly] works. Neither are
we disposed to mention here the sort of works [rosaries, pilgrimages,
and the like] which they teach. We see that a horrible decree has
been prepared against us, which would terrify us still more if we
were contending concerning doubtful or trifling subjects. Now, since
our consciences understand that by the adversaries the manifest truth
is condemned, whose defense is necessary for the Church and increases
the glory of Christ, we easily despise the terrors of the world, and
with a strong spirit will bear whatever is to be suffered for the
glory of Christ and the advantage of the Church. Who would not
rejoice to die in the confession of such articles as that we obtain
the remission of sins by faith freely for Christ's sake, that we do
not merit the remission of sins by our works? [Experience shows--and
the monks themselves must admit it--that] The consciences of the
pious will have no sufficiently sure consolation against the terrors
of sin and of death, and against the devil soliciting to despair [and
who in a moment blows away all our works like dust], if they do not
know that they ought to be confident that they have the remission of
sins freely for Christ's sake. This faith sustains and quickens
hearts in that most violent conflict with despair [in the great agony
of death, in the great anguish, when no creature can help, yea, when
we must depart from this entire visible creation into another state
and world, and must die].
Therefore the cause is one which is worthy that for its sake we
should refuse no danger. Whosoever you are that has assented to our
Confession, "do not yield to the wicked, but, on the contrary, go
forward the more boldly," when the adversaries endeavor, by means of
terrors and tortures and punishments, to drive away from you that
consolation which has been tendered to the entire Church in this
article of ours [but with all cheerfulness rely confidently and
gladly on God and the Lord Jesus, and joyfully confess this manifest
truth in opposition to the tyranny, wrath, threatening, and terrors
of all the world, yea, in opposition to the daily murders and
persecution of tyrants. For who would suffer to have taken from him
this great, yea, everlasting consolation on which the entire
salvation of the whole Christian Church depends? Any one who picks
up the Bible and reads it earnestly will soon observe that this
doctrine has its foundation everywhere in the Bible]. Testimonies of
Scripture will not be wanting to one seeking them, which will
establish his mind. For Paul at the top of his voice, as the saying
is, cries out, Rom. 3, 24 f., and 4, 16, that sins are freely
remitted for Christ's sake. It is of faith, he says, that it might
be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure. That is, if the
promise would depend upon our works, it would not be sure. If
remission of sins would be given on account of our works, when would
we know that we had obtained it, when would a terrified conscience
find a work which it would consider sufficient to appease God's
wrath? But we spoke of the entire matter above. Thence let the
reader derive testimonies. For the unworthy treatment of the subject
has forced from us the present, not discussion, but complaint that on
this topic they have distinctly recorded themselves as disapproving
of this article of ours, that we obtain remission of sins not on
account of our works, but by faith and freely on account of Christ.
The adversaries also add testimonies to their own condemnation, and
it is worth while to recite several of them. They quote from Peter,
2. Ep. 1, 10: Give diligence to make your calling sure, etc.. Now
you see, reader, that our adversaries have not wasted labor in
learning logic, but have the art of inferring from the Scriptures
whatever pleases them [whether it is in harmony with the Scriptures
or out of harmony; whether it is correctly or incorrectly concluded.
For they conclude thus:] "Make your calling sure by good works."
Therefore works merit the remission of sins. A very agreeable mode
of reasoning, if one would argue thus concerning a person sentenced
to capital punishment, whose punishment has been remitted: "The
magistrate commands that hereafter you abstain from that which
belongs to another. Therefore you have merited the remission of the
penalty, because you are now abstaining from what belongs to another."
Thus to argue is to make a cause out of that which is not a cause.
For Peter speaks of works following the remission of sins, and
teaches why they should be done, namely, that the calling may be sure,
i.e., lest they may fall from their calling if they sin again. Do
good works that you may persevere in your calling, that you [do not
fall away again, grow cold and] may not lose the gifts of your
calling, which were given you before, and not on account of works
that follow, and which now are retained by faith, for faith does not
remain in those who lose the Holy Ghost, who reject repentance, just
as we have said above (p. 253) that faith exists in repentance.
They add other testimonies cohering no better. Lastly they say that
this opinion was condemned a thousand years before, in the time of
Augustine. This also is quite false. For the Church of Christ
always held that the remission of sins is obtained freely. Yea, the
Pelagians were condemned, who contended that grace is given on
account of our works. Besides, we have above shown sufficiently that
we hold that good works ought necessarily to follow faith. For we do
not make void the Law, says Paul, Rom. 3, 31; yea, we establish the
Law, because when by faith we have received the Holy Ghost, the
fulfilling of the Law necessarily follows, by which love, patience,
chastity, and other fruits of the Spirit gradually grow.
Part 26
The Twenty-first Article they absolutely condemn, because we do not
require the invocation of saints. Nor on any topic do they speak
more eloquently and with more prolixity. Nevertheless they do not
effect anything else than that the saints should be honored; likewise,
that the saints who live pray for others; as though, indeed, the
invocation of dead saints were on that account necessary. They cite
Cyprian, because he asked Cornelius while yet alive to pray for his
brothers when departing. By this example they prove the invocation
of the dead. They quote also Jerome against Vigilantius. "On this
field" [in this matter], they say, "eleven hundred years ago, Jerome
overcame Vigilantius." Thus the adversaries triumph, as though the
war were already ended. Nor do those asses see that in Jerome,
against Vigilantius, there is not a syllable concerning invocation.
He speaks concerning honors for the saints, not concerning invocation.
Neither have the rest of the ancient writers before Gregory made
mention of invocation. Certainly this invocation, with these
opinions which the adversaries now teach concerning the application
of merits, has not the testimonies of the ancient writers.
Our Confession approves honors to the saints. For here a threefold
honor is to be approved. The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to
give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy, because He
has shown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers
or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the
greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be
praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises
faithful business-men, Matt. 25, 21. 23. The second service is the
strengthening of our faith when we see the denial forgiven Peter we
also are encouraged to believe the more that grace truly superabounds
over sin, Rom. 5, 20. The third honor is the imitation, first, of
faith, then of the other virtues which every one should imitate
according to his calling. These true honors the adversaries do not
require. They dispute only concerning invocation, which, even though
it would have no danger, nevertheless is not necessary.
Besides, we also grant that the angels pray for us. For there is a
testimony in Zech. 1, 12, where an angel prays: O Lord of hosts, how
long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem? Although concerning the
saints we concede that, just as, when alive, they pray for the Church
universal in general, so in heaven they pray for the Church in
general, albeit no testimony concerning the praying of the dead is
extant in the Scriptures, except the dream taken from the Second Book
of Maccabees, 15, 14.
Moreover, even supposing that the saints pray for the Church ever so
much, yet it does not follow that they are to be invoked; although
our Confession affirms only this, that Scripture does not teach the
invocation of the saints, or that we are to ask the saints for aid.
But since neither a command, nor a promise, nor an example can be
produced from the Scriptures concerning the invocation of saints, it
follows that conscience can have nothing concerning this invocation
that is certain. And since prayer ought to be made from faith, how
do we know that God approves this invocation? Whence do we know
without the testimony of Scripture that the saints perceive the
prayers of each one? Some plainly ascribe divinity to the saints
namely, that they discern the silent thoughts of the minds in us.
They dispute concerning morning and evening knowledge, perhaps
because they doubt whether they hear us in the morning or the evening.
They invent these things, not in order to treat the saints with
honor, but to defend lucrative services. Nothing can be produced by
the adversaries against this reasoning, that, since invocation does
not have a testimony from God's Word, it cannot be affirmed that the
saints understand our invocation, or, even if they understand it,
that God approves it. Therefore the adversaries ought not to force
us to an uncertain matter, because a prayer without faith is not
prayer. For when they cite the example of the Church, it is evident
that this is a new custom in the Church; for although the old prayers
make mention of the saints, yet they do not invoke the saints.
Although also this new invocation in the Church is dissimilar to the
invocation of individuals.
Again, the adversaries not only require invocation in the worship of
the saints, but also apply the merits of the saints to others, and
make of the saints not only intercessors, but also propitiators.
This is in no way to be endured. For here the honor belonging only
to Christ is altogether transferred to the saints. For they make
them mediators and propitiators, and although they make a distinction
between mediators of intercession and mediators [the Mediator] of
redemption, yet they plainly make of the saints mediators of
redemption. But even that they are mediators of intercession they
declare without testimony of Scripture, which, be it said ever so
reverently, nevertheless obscures Christ's office, and transfers the
confidence of mercy due Christ to the saints. For men imagine that
Christ is more severe and the saints more easily appeased, and they
trust rather to the mercy of the saints than to the mercy of Christ,
and fleeing from Christ [as from a tyrant], they seek the saints.
Thus they actually make of them mediators of redemption.
Therefore we shall show that they truly make of the saints, not only
intercessors, but propitiators, i.e., mediators of redemption. Here
we do not as yet recite the abuses of the common people [how manifest
idolatry is practiced at pilgrimages]. We are still speaking of the
opinions of the Doctors. As regards the rest, even the inexperienced
[common people] can judge.
In a propitiator these two things concur. In the first place, there
ought to be a word of God from which we may certainly know that God
wishes to pity, and hearken to, those calling upon Him through this
propitiator. There is such a promise concerning Christ, John 16 23:
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.
Concerning the saints there is no such promise. Therefore
consciences cannot be firmly confident that by the invocation of
saints we are heard. This invocation, therefore, is not made from
faith. Then we have also the command to call upon Christ, according
to Matt. 11, 28: Come unto Me, all ye that labor, etc., which
certainly is said also to us. And Isaiah says, 11,10: In that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign to
the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek. And Ps. 45, 12: Even the
rich among the people shall entreat Thy favor. And Ps. 72, 11. 16:
Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him. And shortly after: Prayer
also shall be made for Him continually. And in John 6, 23 Christ
says: That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.
And Paul, 2 Thess. 2, 16. 17, says, praying: Now our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, and God, even our Father,... comfort your hearts and
stablish you. [All these passages refer to Christ.] But concerning
the invocation of saints, what commandment, what example can the
adversaries produce from the Scriptures? The second matter in a
propitiator is, that his merits have been presented as those which
make satisfaction for others, which are bestowed by divine imputation
on others, in order that through these, just as by their own merits,
they may be accounted righteous. As when any friend pays a debt for
a friend, the debtor is freed by the merit of another, as though it
were by his own. Thus the merits of Christ are bestowed upon us, in
order that, when we believe in Him, we may be accounted righteous by
our confidence in Christ's merits as though we had merits of our own.
And from both, namely, from the promise and the bestowment of merits,
confidence in mercy arises [upon both parts must a Christian prayer
be founded]. Such confidence in the divine promise, and likewise in
the merits of Christ, ought to be brought forward when we pray. For
we ought to be truly confident, both that for Christ's sake we are
heard, and that by His merits we have a reconciled Father.
Here the adversaries first bid us invoke the saints, although they
have neither God's promise, nor a command, nor an example from
Scripture. And yet they cause greater confidence in the mercy of the
saints to be conceived than in that of Christ, although Christ bade
us come to Him and not to the saints. Secondly, they apply the
merits of the saints, just as the merits of Christ, to others, they
bid us trust in the merits of the saints as though we were accounted
righteous on account of the merits of the saints, in like manner as
we are accounted righteous by the merits of Christ. Here we
fabricate nothing. In indulgences they say that they apply the
merits of the saints [as satisfactions for our sins]. And Gabriel,
the interpreter of the canon of the Mass, confidently declares:
According to the order instituted by God we should betake ourselves
to the aid of the saints, in order that we may be saved by their
merits and vows. These are the words of Gabriel. And nevertheless
in the books and sermons of the adversaries still more absurd things
are read here and there. What is it to make propitiators if this is
not? They are altogether made equal to Christ if we must trust that
we are saved by their merits.
But where has this arrangement, to which he refers when he says that
we ought to resort to the aid of the saints, been instituted by God?
Let him produce an example or command from the Scriptures. Perhaps
they derive this arrangement from the courts of kings, where friends
must be employed as intercessors. But if a king has appointed a
certain intercessor, he will not desire that eases be brought to him
through others. Thus, since Christ has been appointed Intercessor
and High Priest, why do we seek others? [What can the adversaries
say in reply to this?]
Here and there this form of absolution is used: The passion of our
lord Jesus Christ the merits of the most blessed Virgin Mary and of
all the saints, be to thee for the remission of sins. Here the
absolution is pronounced on the supposition that we are reconciled
and accounted righteous not only by the merits of Christ, but also by
the merits of the other saints. Some of us have seen a doctor of
theology dying, for consoling whom a certain theologian, a monk, was
employed. He pressed on the dying man nothing but this prayer:
Mother of grace, protect us from the enemy; receive us in the hour of
death.
Granting that the blessed Mary prays for the Church, does she receive
souls in death, does she conquer death [the great power of Satan],
does she quicken? What does Christ do if the blessed Mary does these
things? Although she is most worthy of the most ample honors,
nevertheless she does not wish to be made equal to Christ, but rather
wishes us to consider and follow her example [the example of her
faith and her humility]. But the subject itself declares that in
public opinion the blessed Virgin has succeeded altogether to the
place of Christ. Men have invoked her, have trusted in her mercy,
through her have desired to appease Christ, as though He were not a
Propitiator, but only a dreadful judge and avenger. We believe,
however, that we must not trust that the merits of the saints are
applied to us, that on account of these God is reconciled to us, or
accounts us just, or saves us. For we obtain remission of sins only
by the merits of Christ, when we believe in Him. Of the other saints
it has been said, 1 Cor. 3, 8: Every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labor, i.e., they cannot mutually bestow their
own merits, the one upon the other, as the monks sell the merits of
their orders. Even Hilary says of the foolish virgins: And as the
foolish virgins could not go forth with their lamps extinguished,
they besought those who were prudent to lend them oil; to whom they
replied that they could not give it because peradventure there might
not be enough for all; i.e., no one can be aided by the works and
merits of another, because it is necessary for every one to buy oil
for his own lamp. [Here he points out that none of us can aid
another by other people's works or merits.]
Since, therefore, the adversaries teach us to place confidence in the
invocation of saints, although they have neither the Word of God nor
the example of Scripture [of the Old or of the New Testament]; since
they apply the merits of the saints on behalf of others, not
otherwise than they apply the merits of Christ, and transfer the
honor belonging only to Christ to the saints, we can receive neither
their opinions concerning the worship of the saints, nor the practise
of invocation. For we know that confidence is to be placed in the
intercession of Christ, because this alone has God's promise. We
know that the merits of Christ alone are a propitiation for us. On
account of the merits of Christ we are accounted righteous when we
believe in Him, as the text says, Rom. 9, 33 (cf. 1 Pet. 2, 6 and Is.
28, 16): Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Neither
are we to trust that we are accounted righteous by the merits of the
blessed Virgin or of the other saints.
With the learned this error also prevails namely, that to each saint
a particular administration has been committed, that Anna bestows
riches [protects from poverty], Sebastian keeps off pestilence,
Valentine heals epilepsy, George protects horsemen. These opinions
have clearly sprung from heathen examples. For thus, among the
Romans Juno was thought to enrich, Febris to keep off fever, Castor
and Pollux to protect horsemen, etc. Even though we should imagine
that the invocation of saints were taught with the greatest prudence,
yet since the example is most dangerous, why is it necessary to
defend it when it has no command or testimony from God's Word? Aye,
it has not even the testimony of the ancient writers. First because,
as I have said above, when other mediators are sought in addition to
Christ, and confidence is put in others, the entire knowledge of
Christ is suppressed. The subject shows this. In the beginning,
mention of the saints seems to have been admitted with a design that
is endurable, as in the ancient prayers. Afterwards invocation
followed, and abuses that are prodigious and more than heathenish
followed invocation. From invocation the next step was to images;
these also were worshiped, and a virtue was supposed to exist in
these, just as magicians imagine that a virtue exists in images of
the heavenly bodies carved at a particular time. In a certain
monastery we [some of us] have seen a statue of the blessed Virgin,
which moved automatically by a trick [within by a string], so as to
seem either to turn away from [those who did not make a large
offering] or nod to those making request.
Still the fabulous stories concerning the saints, which are publicly
taught with great authority, surpass the marvelous tales of the
statues and pictures. Barbara, amidst her torments, asks for the
reward that no one who would invoke her should die without the
Eucharist. Another, standing on one foot, recited daily the whole
psaltery. Some wise man painted [for children] Christophorus [which
in German means Bearer of Christ], in order by the allegory to
signify that there ought to be great strength of mind in those who
would bear Christ, i.e., who would teach or confess the Gospel,
because it is necessary to undergo the greatest dangers [for they
must wade by night through the great sea, i.e., endure all kinds of
temptations and dangers]. Then the foolish monks taught among the
people that they ought to invoke Chistophorus, as though such a
Polyphemus [such a giant who bore Christ through the sea] had once
existed. And although the saints performed very great deeds, either
useful to the state or affording private examples the remembrance of
which would conduce much both toward strengthening faith and toward
following their example in the administration of affairs, no one has
searched for these from true narratives. [Although God Almighty
through His saints, as a peculiar people, has wrought many great
things in both realms, in the Church and in worldly transactions;
although there are many great examples in the lives of the saints
which would be very profitable to princes and lords, to true pastors
and guardians of souls, for the government both of the world and of
the Church, especially for strengthening faith in God, yet they have
passed these by, and preached the most insignificant matters
concerning the saints, concerning their hard beds their hair shirts,
etc., which, for the greater part, are falsehoods.] Yet indeed it is
of advantage to hear how holy men administered governments [as in the
Holy Scriptures it is narrated of the kings of Israel and Judah],
what calamities, what dangers they underwent, how holy men were of
aid to kings in great dangers, how they taught the Gospel, what
encounters they had with heretics. Examples of mercy are also of
service, as when we see the denial forgiven Peter, when we see
Cyprian forgiven for having been a magician, when we see Augustine,
having experienced the power of faith in sickness steadily affirming
that God truly hears the prayers of believers. It was profitable
that such examples as these, which contain admonitions for either
faith or fear or the administration of the state, be recited. But
certain triflers, endowed with no knowledge either of faith or for
governing states, have invented stories in imitation of poems, in
which there are nothing but superstitious examples concerning certain
prayers, certain fastings, and certain additions of service for
bringing in gain [where there are nothing but examples as to how the
saints wore hair shirts, how they prayed at the seven canonical hours
how they lived upon bread and water]. Such are the miracles that
have been invented concerning rosaries and similar ceremonies. Nor
is there need here to recite examples. For the legends, as they call
them, and the mirrors of examples, and the rosaries, in which there
are very many things not unlike the true narratives of Lucian, are
extant.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 | 18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25