The Augsburg Confession.
1. THE DRAFTING OF THE CONFESSION. In 1530 Charles V assembled a diet at
Augsburg. Contrary to common expectation his proclamation was very
friendly, saying that in this assembly all animosity was to be put
aside and everyone's views were to be heard in all love and kindness.
Elector John the Steadfast thereupon commissioned his theologians to
draw up a brief and clear summary of the principal doctrines of
evangelical truth, that he and his party might be ready to confess their
faith and their hope in a clear and unmistakable manner. The theologians
carried out this order and drew up a document upon the basis of 17
articles composed by Luther at an earlier date. In April of 1530 Elector
John, together with Luther, Melanchthon, Spalatin, Jonas, and Agricola,
started off for Augsburg to fight a good fight. As the ban of the empire
was still in force against Luther, and the city of Augsburg had
protested against his coming, the elector had him taken to the fortress
Coburg, on the morning of the 23d of April, that, in case of necessity,
he might be near at hand. Luther complied, although very unwillingly. In
order not to expose the elector to any danger the theologians requested
him also to remain away, and offered to go to Augsburg alone and give an
account of their teachings. But the elector answered courageously, "God
forbid that I should be excluded from your company. I will confess my
Lord Christ with you." Catholic estates, both spiritual and temporal
lords, among them Dr. Eck and Faber, were traveling the same road. In
Augsburg Melanchthon again set to work, and in agreement with Luther and
the other confessors completed the writing out of the confession. He
then sent a copy of it to Luther at Coburg for inspection. When
returning it Luther wrote: "I am well pleased with it, and cannot see
that I could improve or change it; nor would it be proper for me to
attempt this, for I cannot step so softly and gently. Christ, our Lord,
grant that it may bring forth rich abundance of precious fruit. That is
our hope and prayer. Amen." This is the origin of the confession which
is known as the Augsburg Confession. It is a pure, correct, and
irrefutable confession of the divine truths of Holy Scripture. Therefore
it is also the holy banner around which all true Lutherans everywhere
gather, and to this day the Lutheran church acknowledges only those as
its members who accept the Unaltered Augsburg Confession in all its
articles, without any exception.
2. HEROISM OF THE LUTHERAN PRINCES. Slowly the emperor finally
approached the city of Augsburg where the assembled estates were
expectantly waiting for him. In great pomp he entered the city on the
15th of June, followed by his brother Ferdinand and many other princes.
With amazement he at once noticed how great the contrast had grown in
the nine years between the Catholics and the Protestants. For when at
the entrance of the emperor the papal legate blessed the princes and all
others kneeled down in the customary fashion the princes of Saxony and
Hesse remained standing. And when, on the same evening, the emperor
demanded of the evangelical princes that on the following day they
should take part in the great Corpus Christi procession they declared
that by their participation they were not minded to encourage such human
ordinances which were evidently contrary to the Word of God and the
command of Christ. Upon this occasion Margrave George of Brandenburg
uttered these heroic words, "Rather than deny my God and His Gospel I
would kneel here before your Imperial Majesty and have my head cut from
my body." The emperor graciously replied, "Dear Prince, not head off!
not head off!"
3. SIGNING THE CONFESSION. So the ever memorable day, the 24th of June,
approached, on which the little band of Lutheran confessors were to
confess the Lord Christ before the emperor and the diet. On the evening
before Elector John invited his brethren in the faith to his lodgings.
At the upper end of a long table sat the elector. He arose, and the rest
followed him. In his hand was a roll of manuscript. He seized a pen and
subscribed his name with a firm hand. In doing so he said, "May Almighty
God grant us His grace continually that all may redound to His glory and
praise." In fervent words he admonished those present to stand firm,
saying, "All counsels that are against God must fail, and the good cause
will, without doubt, finally triumph." Now the others also signed the
confession. After the Prince of Anhalt, a right chivalrous lord, had
signed he cried with flashing eyes, "I have been in many a fray to
please others, why should I not saddle my horse, if it is necessary, in
honor of my Lord and Savior, and, sacrificing life and limb, hurry into
heavenly life to receive the eternal crown of glory?" The meeting closed
with a fervent prayer for blessing and success on the coming day.
Luther, in the mean time, remained at Coburg, but in spirit he
participated in the holy cause at Augsburg. Every day he spent three
hours in prayer for the victory of the beloved Gospel. He was
continually crying to God to preserve the brethren in true faith and
sound doctrine. In hours of anxiety and trial he wrote on the walls of
his room with his own hands the precious words of the 118th Psalm: "I
shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." He
addressed many consoling letters to the confessors in which he
admonished them to constancy. At this time there lived in his own heart
that trust in God which he had expressed in his heroic song, "A Mighty
Fortress is Our God."
[Illustration: Reading the Augsburg Confession.]
4. SUBMITTAL AND RECEPTION OF THE CONFESSION. On Saturday, the 25th of
June, 1530, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the diet assembled in the
episcopal palace, where the confession was to be read. The German
emperor presided, and the highest dignitaries of the Roman empire had
gathered to hear the confession. Then the evangelical confessors arose
cheerfully, and in their name the two electoral chancellors, Dr. Brueck
and Dr. Baier, stepped into the center of the room, the first with a
Latin, the latter with a German copy of the confession. When the emperor
demanded that the Latin copy should be read, Elector John replied, "Upon
German ground and soil it is but fair to read and hear the German
tongue." The emperor permitted it. And now Dr. Baier began to read in a
loud and audible voice, so that even the assembled multitude without in
the courtyard could plainly understand every word of the confession.
Everyone was deeply touched by it. The learned Catholic Bishop of
Augsburg publicly admitted, "Everything that was read is the pure,
unadulterated, undeniable truth." Duke William of Bavaria pressed the
hand of Elector John in a friendly manner and said to Dr. Eck, who was
standing close by, "I have been told something entirely different of
Luther's doctrine than I have now heard from their confession. You have
also assured me that their doctrine could be refuted." Eck replied, "I
would undertake to refute it with the fathers, but not with the
Scriptures." Thereupon the duke rejoined, "I understand, then, that the
Lutherans sit entrenched in the Scriptures, and we are on the outside."
Luther wrote to one of his friends: "You have confessed Christ and
offered peace. You have worthily engaged in the holy work of God as
becometh the saints. Now for once rejoice in the Lord also and be glad,
ye righteous. Look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh." Spalatin said that such a confession had not been made
since the world exists. Mathesius also aptly testifies, "There has not
been a greater and higher work and a more glorious testimony since the
days of the apostles than this at Augsburg before the whole Roman
empire." Very soon the confession was translated in many different
languages and spread in every land. Thereby many received true
information on the Lutheran doctrine, recognized its entire agreement
with Holy Scriptures and with the doctrine of the Apostolic Church, and
joyfully accepted it as their own.
At the emperor's command the papal theologians at once drew up a paper
in which they tried to refute the Augsburg Confession. This document,
called Confutation, proved to be such a miserable failure that it had
to be returned for revision. Melanchthon then wrote an excellent defense
of the confession, the Apology, which, however, the emperor would
neither receive nor permit to be read. He simply declared the case to be
closed, and said, "If the evangelical princes will not submit, then I,
the protector of the Roman church, am not disposed to permit a schism of
the church in Germany."
Before the close of the diet he issued a severe edict which granted the
evangelicals six months to consider matters and commanded them, before
the expiration of this time, to return to the Catholic church. Thereupon
the faithful confessors declared that, because they had not received a
thorough refutation from the Word of God, they were determined to abide
by the faith of the prophets and apostles, and everything else they
would commend to the gracious will of God. When taking leave of the
emperor, Elector John, rightly called the "Steadfast," spoke the
memorable words, "I am sure that the doctrine contained in the
Confession will stand even against the gates of hell." The emperor
answered, "Uncle, Uncle, I did not expect to hear such words from your
Grace. You will lose your electoral crown and your life, and your
subjects will perish, together with their women and children."