The Apology of the Augsburg ConfessionMelanchthon, Philipp
Religion
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
Melanchthon, Philipp
Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
And if we must speak of the outward appearance, attendance upon
church is better among us than among the adversaries. For the
audiences are held by useful and clear sermons. But neither the
people nor the teachers have ever understood the doctrine of the
adversaries. [There is nothing that so attaches people to the church
as good preaching. But our adversaries preach their people out of
the churches; for they teach nothing of the necessary parts of
Christian doctrine; they narrate the legends of saints and other
fables.] And the true adornment of the churches is godly, useful, and
clear doctrine, the devout use of the Sacraments, ardent prayer, and
the like. Candles, golden vessels [tapers, altar-cloths, images],
and similar adornments are becoming, but they are not the adornment
that properly belongs to the Church. But if the adversaries make
worship consist in such matters, and not in the preaching of the
Gospel, in faith, and the conflicts of faith they are to be numbered
among those whom Daniel describes as worshiping their God with gold
and silver, Dan. 11, 38.
They quote also from the Epistle to the Hebrews, 5, 1: Every high
priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Hence
they conclude that, since in the New Testament there are high priests
and priests, it follows that there is also a sacrifice for sins.
This passage particularly makes an impression on the unlearned,
especially when the pomp of the priesthood [the garments of Aaron,
since in the Old Testament there were many ornaments of gold, silver,
and purple] and the sacrifices of the Old Testament are spread before
the eyes. This resemblance deceives the ignorant, so that they judge
that, according to the same manner, a ceremonial sacrifice ought to
exist among us, which should be applied on behalf of the sins of
others, just as in the Old Testament. Neither is the service of the
masses and the rest of the polity of the Pope anything else than
false zeal in behalf of the misunderstood Levitical polity. [They
have not understood that the New Testament is occupied with other
matters, and that, if such ceremonies are used for the training of
the young, a limit must be fixed for them.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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