The great importance ascribed to the Apology appears both from its
numerous reprints and the strenuous endeavors of the opponents to oppose
it with books, which, however, no one was willing to print. The
reception accorded it by the Lutherans is described in a letter which
Lazarus Spengler sent to Veit Dietrich May 17: "We have received the
Apology with the greatest joy and in good hope that it will be
productive of much profit among our posterity." Brenz declares it worthy
of the canon [worthy of symbolical authority]: "Apologiam, me iudice,
canone dignam" (_C. R._ 2, 510), a phrase which Luther had previously
applied to Melanchthon's _Loci._ The joy of the Lutherans was equaled
only by the consternation of their enemies. The appearance of the
Apology surprised and perturbed them. They keenly felt that they were
again discredited in the public opinion and had been outwitted by the
Lutherans. On November 19 Albert of Mayence sent a copy of the Apology
to the Emperor in order to show him how the Catholic religion was being
destroyed while the Confutation remained unpublished. Cochlaeus
complained that to judge from letters received, the Apology found
approval even in Rome, whereas no printer could be found for Catholic
replies to the Apology. He wrote: "Meantime, while we keep silence, they
flaunt the Apology and other writings, and not only insult us, but cause
our people and cities to doubt and to grow unstable in the faith."
(Kolde, 40.)
The Apology, as revised and published by Melanchthon, was a private
work. His name, therefore, appeared on the title-page of the edition of
1531, which was not the case with respect to the Confession and Apology
presented at Augsburg. The latter were official documents, drawn up by
order of the Lutheran princes and estates, while the revised Apology was
an undertaking for which Melanchthon had received no commission.
Accordingly, as he was not justified in publishing a work of his own
under the name of the princes, there was nothing else for him to do than
to affix his own signature. In the Preface to the Apology he says: "As
it passed through the press, I made some additions. Therefore I give my
name, so that no one can complain that the book has been published
anonymously." (100.) Melanchthon did not wish to make any one beside
himself responsible for the contents of the revised Apology.
Before long, however, the Apology received official recognition. At
Schweinfurt, 1532, in opposition to the Papists, the Lutherans appealed
to the Augustana and Apology as the confession of their faith,
designating the latter as "the defense and explanation of the
Confession." And when the Papists advanced the claim that the Lutherans
had gone farther in the Apology than in the Augustana, and, April 11,
1532, demanded that they abide by the Augustana, refrain from making the
Apology their confession, and accordingly substitute "Assertion" for the
title "Apology," the Lutherans, considering the Apology to be the
adequate expression of their faith, insisted on the original title.
April 17 they declared: "This book was called Apology because it was
presented to Caesar after the Confession; nor could they suffer its
doctrine and the Word of God to be bound and limited, or their preachers
restricted to teach nothing else than the letter of the Augsburg
Confession, thus making it impossible for them to rebuke freely and most
fully all doctrinal errors, abuses, sins, and crimes. _Nominatum fuisse
Apologiam scriptum illud, quod Caesari post Confessionem exhibitum sit,
neque se pati posse, ut doctrina sua et Verbum Dei congustetur,
imminuatur et concionatores astringantur, ut nihil aliud praedicent
quam ad litteram Augustanae Confessionis, neque libere et plenissime
adversus omnes errores doctrinae, abusus, peccata et crimina dicere
possint._" Hereupon the Romanists, on April 22, demanded that at least a
qualifying explanation be added to the title Apology. Brueck answered on
the 23d: "It is not possible to omit this word. The Apology is the
correlate of the Confession. Still the princes and their associates do
not wish any articles taught other than those which have so far begun to
be discussed. _Omitti istud verbum non posse; Apologiam esse correlatum
Confessionis; nolle tamen Principes et socios, ut alii articuli
docerentur quam huiusque tractari coepti sint_." (Koellner, 430.)
In his Letter of Comfort, 1533, to the Leipzig Lutherans banished by
Duke George, Luther says: "There is our Confession and Apology....
Adhere to our Confession and Apology." (10, 1956.) Membership in the
Smalcald League was conditioned on accepting the Apology as well as the
Augustana. Both were also subscribed to in the Wittenberg Concord of
1536. (_C. R._ 3, 76.) In 1537, at Smalcald, the Apology (together with
the Augustana and the Appendix Concerning the Primacy of the Pope) was,
by order of the Evangelical estates, subscribed by all of the
theologians present, and thereby solemnly declared a confession of the
Lutheran Church. In 1539 Denmark reckoned the Apology among the books
which pastors were required to adopt. In 1540 it was presented together
with the Augustana at Worms. It was also received into the various
_corpora doctrinae._ The Formula of Concord adopts the Apology, saying:
"We unanimously confess this [Apology] also, because not only is the
said Augsburg Confession explained in it as much as is necessary and
guarded [against the slanders of the adversaries], but also proved by
clear, irrefutable testimonies of Holy Scripture." (853, 6.)