work with more leisure, he went with his friend Camerarius to the Prince of Anhalt at Dessau. The document is not merely a repetition of the Augsburg Confession, but an adaptation of it to the changed condition of affairs. In 1530 Melanchthon still hoped for a reunion with Rome, and wrote in an apologetic tone, avoiding all that might irritate the powerful enemy; now all hope of reunion had departed, and Protestantism had made a decided progress in ecclesiastical consolidation and independence. Although the Confession was composed after the defeat of the Protestant Princes by the Emperor, and in the midst of the Adiaphoristic troubles, it shows no disposition whatever to recede from the doctrinal positions taken at Augsburg; on the contrary, the errors and abuses of Rome, which made separation an imperative duty, are freely exposed and refuted. The Scriptures, as understood by the ancient Church in the œcumenical Creeds, are declared to be the only and unalterable foundation of the Evangelical faith.' The distinctive Evangelic doctrines and usages in opposition to Rome are comprehended under the two articles of the Apostles' Creed: 'I believe the forgiveness of sins,' and 'one holy Catholic Church.' The former excludes human merit and justification by works; the latter the political and secular conceptions and corruptions of the Church, which is represented to be a spiritual though visible communion of believers in Christ. The controverted articles are considered in twenty-three sections, in the order of the Augsburg Confession, namely: Original Sin, Forgiveness and Justification, Free Will, Good Works, New Obedience, the Church, the Sacraments, Satisfaction, Marriage, Monastic Life, Invocation of Saints, Civil Magistrate. The Saxon Confession is signed, not by Princes, as the Augsburg Confession was, but, as Melanchthon suggested, only by theologians, viz., Bugenhagen, Pfeffinger, Camerarius, Major, Eber, Melanchthon, and the Superintendents of Electoral Saxony, who convened at Wittenberg, July 9, for the purpose, and unanimously adopted the work of their dear and venerable 'Preceptor,' as the clear expression of their own faith in full harmony with his Confession of 1530. It was a beautiful moment in Melanchthon's life, for which he 1 Art I. De doctrina: 'Affirmamus clare coram Deo et universa Ecclesia in cœlo et in terra, nos vera fide amplecti omnia SCRIPTA PROPHETARUM ET APOSTOLORUM: et quidem in hac ipsa nativa sententia quæ expressa est in Symbolis, APOSTOLICO, NICANO et ATHANASIANO.' felt very grateful to God.' The danger was now much greater than in 1530, for the Elector Maurice was in league with the victorious Emperor. The theologians of Brandenburg, Ansbach, Baireuth, Mansfeld, Pomerania, Palatinate, IIesse, Würtemburg, and Strasburg likewise sent in their consent to this Confession.2 The Council convened in May, 1551, was adjourned to October, and again to January next. Melanchthon was ordered to proceed to Trent, but to stop at Nuremberg for further instructions. While at Nuremberg, in January, 1552, he wrote a preface to Luther's Commentary on Genesis, and expressed himself very decidedly against the preceding acts of the Council.3 In the mean time the Saxon and Würtemberg lay-embassadors received a hearing at Trent, not, indeed, before the whole Council in public session, but before a private congregation. They requested that the members of the Council be released of their oath of obedience to the Pope, and be free to decide the questions by the rule of the Scriptures alone. A few prelates were inclined to accede, but the majority would never have sacrificed the principle of tradition, nor reconsidered the decrees already adopted. The Saxon embassadors urged Melanchthon to proceed on his journey, but he delayed on account of the rumors of war. The treacherous Elector Maurice of Saxony cut the Gordian knot by making war upon his ally, the Emperor, in the spring, 1552, drove him from Innspruck, scared the fathers of Trent to their homes, and achieved, in the Treaty of Passau (Aug. 2,1552), ratified at Augsburg (1555), the first victory for liberty of conscience to Protestants, to which the Emperor reluctantly yielded, and against which the Pope never ceases to protest. II. The WÜRTEMBERG CONFESSION (CONFESSIO WÜRTEMBERGICA) was 1 See his letter to Prince George of Anhalt, July 11, 1551, Corp. Reform. Vol. VII. p. 806 sq., and the letter of Major to Jonas, July 14, ibid. p. 809. 2 See Heppe, 1. c. p. xxvii., and especially the Corpus et Syntagma Conf., which gives after the subscriptions the assenting judgments of the churches above mentioned. * Jan. 25, 1552, Corp. Reform. Vol. VII. pp. 918-927. The full title, as given by Heppe and Bindseil, is 'CONFESSIO PIÆ DOCTRINE, quæ nomine illustrissimi Principis ac Domini CHRISTOPHORI Ducis Wirtembergen sis et Teccensis, ac Comitis Montisbe ligardi, per legatos ejus Die XXIIII. | mensis Januarij, Anno MDLII. Congregationi Tridentini Concilii proposita est.' It was first printed at Tübingen, 1551; then in 1556, 1559, 1561, etc. It is also embodied in the Opera Brentii, Tübingen, 1590, Tom. VIII. pp. 1-34, in Corpus et Syntagma Conf. (from a Frankfort ed. of 1561), and in Heppe, 1. c. pp. 491–554. It is frequently quoted in part under different heads, together with the Saxon Confession, in the Reformed Harmonia Confessionum, Genev. 1581. Comp. VOL. I.-Z prepared for the same purpose, at the same time and in the same spirit, by Brentius, the Reformer of the Duchy of Würtemberg, in the name of his Prince, Duke Christopher, who likewise resolved to send delegates to the Council of Trent. For Brentius, like Melanchthon, had no confidence in this partial popish Council, but advised, nevertheless, compliance with the Emperor's request, since a refusal might be construed as disobedience and contempt, or as an act of cowardice. The Confession was approved by a commission of ten Swabian divines, and by the City of Strasburg. It was also approved at Wittenberg, as agreeing with Melanchthon's Confession. It was found best to send two Confessions, one representing the Evangelical Churches of the North, the other those of the South of Germany, to avoid the appearance of a conspiracy. The Würtemberg Confession contains a preface of Duke Christopher, and restates, in thirty-five articles, the doctrines of the Augsburg Confession and other controverted points, for the purpose of showing that the Evangelical Churches agree with the pure doctrine of the apostles, and of the catholic and orthodox Church.1 On the Lord's Supper this Confession goes a little beyond the Saxon; but there is no trace of the ubiquity of Christ's body, of which Brentius, ten years afterwards, became a zealous advocate. Brentius was among the Würtemberg and Strasburg delegates to Trent, and actually arrived there, March 18, 1552, but only to return in April without accomplishing any thing. It is very doubtful whether he and Melanchthon would have made a deep impression upon the Council, which was already committed to the cause of popery and had sanctioned some of its most obnoxious doctrines. Pfaff, Acta et scripta publica Ecclesiæ Wirtembergicæ, Tüb. 1720; Salig, Historie der Augsb. Conf. Tom. I. pp. 673 sqq.; and Hartmann, Johannes Brentz. Leben und ausgewählte Schriften (Elberfeld, 1862), pp. 211-221. 1 1 Prefat.: 'In nostris ecclesiis non nisi veræ apostolica, catholicæ, et orthodoxæ doctrinæ locum datum esse.' * See Sleidanus, De statu relig. et reipublicæ Carolo V. Cæsare commentar. Tom. III. pp. 317333; Corp. Reform. Vol. XXVIII. p. 334, and Hartmann, l. c. p. 215. The other theological delegates to Trent were Beurlin, Heerbrand, Vannius (Wanner), of Würtemberg, and Marbach and Sellius, of Strasburg. Sleidanus was one of the lay-delegates from Strasburg. § 48. THE SAXON VISITATION ARTICLES, 1592. Literature. ARTICULI VISITATORII, Anno Christi 1592 in Electoratu et Provinciis superioris Saxoniæ publicati, et Judicibus Con istoriorum, Superintendentibus, Ministris ecclesiarum et scholarum, nec non Administratoribus bonorum ecclesiasticorum, quin et ipsis Patronis et Collatoribus ad subscribendum et servandum propositi et demandati. They are printed in Corp. juris eccles. Saxonici, Dresden, 1773, p. 256, and added to Hase's edition of the Lutheran Symbols, pp. 862-866, the Berlin edition of the Concordia (1857), pp. 849–854, and Müller's Symb. Bücher, pp. 779-784. Gründliche Verantwortung der vier streitigen Artikel, etc. Leipzig, 1593. A. HUNNIUS: Widerlegung des Calvinischen Büchleins wider die vier Artikel, 1593. Comp. SCHROEKH: Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation, Vol. IV. pp. 660 sqq.; HENKE: Art. Hunnius in Herzog, Vol. VI. pp. 316–321; MÜLLER: Symb. Bücher, pp. cxxi. (Iutrod.) sqq.; G. FRANK: Geschichte der Protest. Theologie (1864), Vol. I. pp. 290 sqq. The FOUR ARTICLES OF VISITATION of Electoral Saxony owe their origin to the revival and second overthrow of Crypto-Calvinism, and reflect the fierceness and bitterness of this contest.' They continued in force till the present century, but never extended their authority beyond Saxony. They are strongly anti-Calvinistic, and may be regarded as an Appendix to the Formula of Concord, with which they fully agree. They were written in 1592, and first published in German in 1593.2 Their object was to perpetuate the reign of exclusive Lutheranism. They are based on the articles of a Colloquy between Andreæ and Beza at Mömpelgard (1586). The chief author was Dr. AEGIDIUS HUNNIUS, one of the foremost Lutheran divines of his age, a native of Winnenden in the Duchy of Würtemberg, professor of theology at Marburg (1576-1592), and afterwards at Wittenberg (d. 1603).3 He was commissioned with several others to visit the churches and schools of Saxony for the purpose of suppressing every trace of Crypto-Calvinism. All clergymen and teachers, and even the civil officers, were required to subscribe the four Articles or lose their places. A great feast of thanksgiving closed the visitation. The hardest fate was reserved for Chancellor Crell, who, after ten years' imprisonment, was executed (1601), ostensibly for political of 'See above, p. 283. Under the title: 'Visitation-Artikel im gantzen Churkreiss Sachsen. Sampt derer Calvinisten Negativo und Gegenlehr, und die Form der Subscription, welchergestalt dieselbe beyden Partheien sửɩn zu unterschreiben sind vorgelegt worden.' 'He was aided in the composition by Mart. Mirus, George Mylius, and Joshua Lonnerus. Mirus was called by Hospinian Inquisitor Saxoniæ,' because, as the Lutherans explained this term of reproach, he cleaned the Lord's vineyard of cunning foxes and wild hogs. His last wish was to die an enemy of Calvinists and Papists. Frank, 1. c. Vol. I. p. 296. fenses, but really for opinions which were once honored by the name of Philip Melanchthon. The preachers who attended this auto-da-fé of hyper-Lutheran orthodoxy told Crell that by his wicked Calvinism he had caused in many cases a dangerous delay of infant baptism, undermined the authority of the ministry, and deserved the fire of hell. They laughed at his prayer on the scaffold; whereupon he prayed to God not to change their laughter into weeping. The executioner, holding the severed head high up in the air, said: "This was a Calvinistic stroke.'1 The four Articles give a very clear and explicit summary of those peculiar doctrines which distinguish the Lutheran creed from those of all other Protestant churches. The first refers to the Lord's Supper, and teaches the real presence and oral fruition of the true and natural body of Christ by all communicants. The second treats of the Person of Christ, and teaches, in support of the eucharistic omnipresence, the communication of the attributes whereby the human nature of Christ became partaker of the whole majesty, honor, power, and glory of his divine nature. The third teaches baptismal regeneration and the ordinary necessity of baptism for salvation. The fourth teaches the universal atonement, and the vocation of all men to salvation, with the possibility of a total and final fall from grace. In the negative part the opposite doctrines of the Calvinists are rejected. These were henceforth held in perfect abhorrence in Saxony, and it was a common proverb, 'Rather a Papist than a Calvinist.'3 1 See Frank, Vol. I. p. 297, and Henke's monograph on Casp. Peucer und Nic. Crell, 1865. 2 Baptism was performed with exorcism in Lutheran churches, and it was counted one of the chief crimes of the Crypto-Calvinists that they abolished this rite. A Saxon pastor who baptized without exorcism gave great offense to the peasants, who cried after him: 'The naughty priest has not expelled the devil' (Der lose Pfaffe hat den Teufel nicht ausgetrieben). 3 It is almost incredible to what extent the Lutheran bigotry of those days carried its hatred of Zwinglianism and Calvinism. We give a few characteristic specimens. Schlüsselburg (Superintendent of Ratzeburg), one of the most learned champions of Lutheran orthodoxy, in his Theologia Calvinistarum Libri Tres, Francoforti ad Monum, 1592, tries to prove that the Calvinists are unsound in almost every article of the Christian faith (‘Sacramentarios de nullo fere doctrinæ Christianæ articulo recte sentire'), and has a special chapter to show that the Calvinistic writings overflow with mendaciis, calumniis, conviciis, maledictis, et contumeliis. He regards many of their doctrines as downright blasphemy. Philip Nikolai, a pious Lutheran pastor at Unna, afterwards at Hamburg, and author of two of the finest German hymns (‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern,' and 'Wachet auf! ruft uns die Stimme'), called the God of the Calvinists 'a roaring bull (Wucherstier und Brüllochs), a bloodthirsty Moloch, a hellish Behemoth and Leviathan, a fiend of men!' (Kurtzer Bericht von der Calvinisten Gott und ihrer Religion, Frkf. 1597; Die erst Victoria, Triumph und Freudenjubel über des Calvin, |