The aim of the Apology was to show why the Lutherans "do not accept the
Confutation," and to puncture the papal boast that the Augustana had
been refuted with the Holy Scriptures. In its Preface we read:
"Afterwards a certain decree was published [by the Emperor], in which
the adversaries boast that they have refuted our Confession from the
Scriptures. You have now, therefore, reader, our Apology, from which you
will understand not only what the adversaries have judged (for we have
reported in good faith), but also that they have condemned several
articles contrary to the manifest Scripture of the Holy Ghost, so far
are they from overthrowing our propositions by means of the Scriptures."
(101.) The Apology is, on the one hand, a refutation of the Confutation
and, on the other hand, a defense and elaboration of the Augustana,
presenting theological proofs for the correctness of its teachings.
Hence constant reference is made to the Augsburg Confession as well as
the Confutation; and scholastic theology is discussed as well. On this
account also the sequence of the articles, on the whole, agrees with
that of the Augustana and the Confutation. However, articles treating of
related doctrines are collected into one, _e.g._, Articles 4, 5, 6, and
20. Articles to which the Romanists assented are but briefly touched
upon. Only a few of them have been elaborated somewhat _e.g._, Of the
Adoration of the Saints, Of Baptism, Of the Lord's Supper, Of
Repentance, Of Civil Government. The fourteen articles, however, which
the Confutation rejected are discussed extensively, and furnished also
with titles, in the _editio princeps_ as well as in the Book of Concord
of 1580 and 1584. In Mueller's edition of the Symbolical Books all
articles of the Apology are for the first time supplied with numbers and
captions corresponding with the Augsburg Confession.
In the Apology, just as in the Augsburg Confession, everything springs
from, and is regulated by, the fundamental Lutheran principle of Law and
Gospel, sin and grace, faith and justification. Not only is the doctrine
of justification set forth thoroughly and comfortingly in a particular
article, but throughout the discussions it remains the dominant note,
its heavenly strain returning again and again as the _motif_ in the
grand symphony of divine truths--a strain with which the Apology also
breathes, as it were, its last, departing breath. For in its Conclusion
we read: "If all the scandals [which, according to the Papists, resulted
from Luther's teaching] be brought together, still the one article
concerning the remission of sins (that for Christ's sake, through faith,
we freely obtain the remission of sins) brings so much good as to hide
all evils. And this, in the beginning [of the Reformation], gained for
Luther not only our favor, but also that of many who are now contending
against us." (451.)
In Kolde's opinion, the Apology is a companion volume, as it were, to
Melanchthon's _Loci Communes,_ and a theological dissertation rather
than a confession. However, theological thoroughness and erudition do
not conflict with the nature of a confession as long as it is not mere
cold intellectual reflection and abstraction, but the warm, living, and
immediate language of the believing heart. With all its thoroughness and
erudition the Apology is truly edifying, especially the German version.
One cannot read without being touched in his inmost heart, without
sensing and feeling something of the heart-beat of the Lutheran
confessors. Jacobs, who translated the Apology into English, remarks:
"To one charged with the cure of souls the frequent reading of the
Apology is invaluable; in many (we may say, in most) parts it is a book
of practical religion." (_The Book of Concord_ 2, 41.) The Apology does
not offer all manner of theories of idle minds, but living testimonies
of what faith, while struggling hotly with the devil and languishing in
the fear of death and the terrors of sin and the Law found and
experienced in the sweet Gospel as restored by Luther. In reading the
Apology, one can tell from the words employed how Melanchthon lived,
moved, and fairly reveled in this blessed truth which in opposition to
all heathen work-righteousness teaches terrified hearts to rely solely
and alone on grace. In his _History of Lutheranism_ (2, 206) Seckendorf
declares that no one can be truly called a theologian of our Church who
has not diligently and repeatedly read the Apology or familiarized
himself with it. (Salig, 1, 375.)