_Fateor hoc in re a me peccatum esse, et a Deo veniam peto, quod non procul fugi insidiosas illas deliberationes_." (_C. R._ 8, 839.) On January 17, 1557, Melanchthon wrote to the Saxon pastors: "I was drawn into the insidious deliberations of the courts. Therefore, if in any way I have either fallen or been too weak, I ask forgiveness of God and of the Church, and I shall submit to the judgments of the Church." (9, 61.) In the _Formula Consensus,_ written by Melanchthon at Worms, in 1557, the Interim is expressly condemned. For here we read: "With the help of God we retain, and shall retain, the entire doctrine of justification, agreeing with the Augsburg Confession and with the confessions which were published in the church of Hamburg against the book called Interim. Nor do we want any corruptions or ambiguities to be mixed with it; and we desire most earnestly that the true doctrine in all its articles be set forth, as far as possible, in identical and proper forms of speech, and that ambitious innovations be avoided." (9, 369.) The _Frankfurt Recess_ of 1558, also written by Melanchthon and signed by the princes, maintains: "Where the true Christian doctrine of the holy Gospel is polluted or persecuted, there the adiaphora as well as other ceremonies are detrimental and injurious." (9, 501.) XIII. The Majoristic Controversy. 142. Early Origin of This Error. Though not personally mentioned and attacked by the opponents of Majorism, Melanchthon must be regarded as the real father also of this controversy. He was the first to introduce and to cultivate the phrase: "Good works are necessary to salvation." In his _Loci_ of 1535 he taught that, in the article of justification, good works are the _causa sine qua non_ and are necessary to salvation, _ad vitam aeternam, ad salutem._ (Herzog, _R. E._, 1903, 12, 519; Galle, _Melanchthon,_ 345. 134.) Melanchthon defined: "_Causa sine qua non_ works nothing, nor is it a constituent part but merely something without which the effect does not occur, or by which, if it were not present, the working cause would be hindered because it was not added. _Causa sine qua non nihil agit, nec est pars constituens, sed tantum est quiddam, sine quo non fit effectus, seu quo, si non adesset, impediretur agens, ideo quia illud non accessisset."_ (Preger 1, 356.) According to Melanchthon, therefore, justification cannot occur without the presence of good works. He explained: "_Et tamen bona opera ita necessaria sunt ad vitam aeternam, quia sequi reconciliationem necessario debent._ Nevertheless good works are necessary to eternal life, inasmuch as they must necessarily follow reconciliation." (_C. R._ 21, 429. 775.) According to the context in which it is found, this statement includes that good works are necessary also to justification; for Melanchthon, too, correctly held "that the adoption to eternal life or the gift of eternal life was connected with