The Apology of the Augsburg ConfessionMelanchthon, Philipp
Religion
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
Melanchthon, Philipp
Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
And what need is there of words on a subject so manifest? If the
adversaries defend these human services as meriting justification,
grace, and the remission of sins, they simply establish the kingdom
of Antichrist. For the kingdom of Antichrist is a new service of God,
devised by human authority rejecting Christ, just as the kingdom of
Mahomet has services and works through which it wishes to be
justified before God; nor does it hold that men are gratuitously
justified before God by faith for Christ's sake. Thus the Papacy
also will be a part of the kingdom of Antichrist if it thus defends
human services as justifying. For the honor is taken away from
Christ when they teach that we are not justified gratuitously by
faith, for Christ's sake, but by such services, especially when they
teach that such services are not only useful for justification, but
are also necessary, as they hold above in Art. VII, where they
condemn us for saying that unto true unity of the Church it is not
necessary that rites instituted by men should everywhere be alike.
Daniel, 11, 38, indicates that new human services will be the very
form and constitution of the kingdom of Antichrist. For he says thus:
But in his estate shall he honor the god of forges; and a god whom
his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver and precious
stones. Here he describes new services, because he says that such a
god shall be worshiped as the fathers were ignorant of. For although
the holy Fathers themselves had both rites and traditions, yet they
did not hold that these matters are useful or necessary for
justification they did not obscure the glory and office Christ, but
taught that we are justified by faith for Christ's sake, and not for
the sake of these human services. But they observed human rites for
the sake of bodily advantage, that the people might know at what time
they should assemble; that, for the sake of example, all things in
the churches might be done in order and becomingly; lastly, that the
common people might receive a sort of training. For the distinctions
of times and the variety of rites are of service in admonishing the
common people. The Fathers had these reasons for maintaining the
rites, and for these reasons we also judge it to be right that
traditions [good customs] be maintained. And we are greatly
surprised that the adversaries [contrary to the entire Scriptures of
the Apostles, contrary to the Old and New Testaments] contend for
another design of traditions, namely, that they may merit the
remission of sins, grace, or justification. What else is this than
to honor God with gold and silver and precious stones [as Daniel
says], i.e., to hold that God becomes reconciled by a variety in
clothing, ornaments, and by similar rites [many kinds of church
decorations, banners, tapers], as are infinite in human traditions?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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