The Apology of the Augsburg ConfessionMelanchthon, Philipp
Religion
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
Melanchthon, Philipp
Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
Now we shall omit the sort of testimonies concerning purgatory that
the adversaries have: what kinds of punishments they think there are
in purgatory, what grounds the doctrine of satisfactions has, which
we have shown above to be most vain. We shall only present this in
opposition: It is certain that the Lord's Supper was instituted on
account of the remission of guilt. For it offers the remission of
sins, where it is necessary that guilt be truly understood. [For
what consolation would we have if forgiveness of sin were here
offered us, and yet there would be no remission of guilt?] And
nevertheless it does not make satisfaction for guilt, otherwise the
Mass would be equal to the death of Christ. Neither can the
remission of guilt be received in any other way than by faith.
Therefore the Mass is not a satisfaction, but a promise and Sacrament
that require faith.
And, indeed, it is necessary that all godly persons be seized with
the most bitter grief [shed tears of blood, from anguish and sorrow]
if they consider that the Mass has been in great part transferred to
the dead and to satisfactions for punishments. This is to banish the
daily sacrifice from the Church; this is the kingdom of Antiochus,
who transferred the most salutary promises concerning the remission
of guilt and concerning faith to the most vain opinions concerning
satisfactions; this is to defile the Gospel, to corrupt the use of
the Sacraments. These are the persons [the real blasphemers] whom
Paul has said, 1 Cor. 11, 27, to be guilty of the body and blood of
the Lord, who have suppressed the doctrine concerning faith and the
remission of sins, and, under the pretext of satisfactions, have
devoted the body and blood of the Lord to sacrilegious gain. And
they will at some time pay the penalty for this sacrilege. [God will
one day vindicate the Second Commandment, and pour out a great,
horrible wrath upon them.] Therefore we and all godly consciences
should be on our guard against approving the abuses of the
adversaries.
But let us return to the case. Since the Mass is not a satisfaction,
either for punishment or for guilt, _ex opere operato_, without faith,
it follows that the application on behalf of the dead is useless.
Nor is there need here of a longer discussion. For it is evident
that these applications on behalf of the dead have no testimonies
from the Scriptures. Neither is it safe, without the authority of
Scripture, to institute forms of worship in the Church. And if it
will at any time be necessary, we shall speak at greater length
concerning this entire subject. For why should we now contend with
adversaries who understand neither what a sacrifice, nor what a
sacrament, nor what remission of sins, nor what faith is?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account