In the year 1530 Emperor Charles V was seeking unity among Christians. He hoped that his armies could defeat the armies of the Turks, or Muslims. If he could unite the Christians, he could fight the Turks with a united army, and improve his chances of success. The reformation had divided Christianity, and he sought to end the division. He invited princes and representatives of free cities in the empire to gather and discuss their religious differences.

A common Lutheran statement was presented to Emperor Charles V in Augsburg, Germany on June 25, 1530. It was read in German, but was prepared in both German and Latin. It was signed by seven princes and the representatives of two free cities.

Perhaps you are surprised that it wasn’t signed by Martin Luther. Indeed, it wasn’t even written by Martin Luther. Martin Luther didn’t go to the meeting at Augsburg. A number of other theologians did. Luther’s good friend and fellow theologian, Philip Melanchthon did attend. He corresponded with Luther through the process of preparing the document. He is regarded as the principle author, although it was a group effort. A number of drafts were prepared, and the draft that was read to the assembly had not been completed until the even prior to the reading.

There is no copy of the Augsburg Confession that says, “this is the copy that was read to the Emperor.” Religious scholars have had to make educated guesses as to which document was actually read before the Emperor. While we don’t know exactly what that document said, there are books that contain what we think the Augsburg Confession said, and they have been carefully translated into English over the years. We do know what happened next at the conference.

A group of Roman Catholics went to work preparing a document that would refute the Augsburg Confession. A first draft was deemed unsatisfactory, and the second draft was read in the same hall where the Augsburg Confession was presented on August 3, 1530. The emperor demanded that the Lutherans acknowledge that their position had been refuted and he refused to let them have a copy of the document that was read. That document is referred to as the “Roman Confutation”.

Instead of doing that, they asked Philip Melanchthon to prepare an apology, which is not apologizing for, but rather a defense of, the Augsburg Confession. He had to base his defense on notes that were taken during the reading, since the Emperor refused to distribute the Roman document.

Philip prepared a first draft, which the Emperor refused to accept on September 22, 1530. He eventually got a copy of the Roman Confutation, and prepared an expanded Apology of the Augsburg Confession, which was published at the end of April, or the beginning of May of 1531.

If you want to know precisely the issues that caused the split between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, you could find out be reading these documents from the early period of the reformation. The Augsburg Confession and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession are both contained in The Book of Concord. We have a copy of The Book of Concord in the library. I also have a copy in my office and you can find it online by going to www.bookofconcord.org.

Philip Melanchthon did a good job articulating Martin Luther’s beliefs. If you read what he has written it will probably strengthen your faith. It is an irony that these beliefs were carefully set to paper because Emperor Charles V wanted Christians to unite for the purpose of making war on Muslims. Indeed God works in mysterious ways.

Thanks for listening, and God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Pastor Birk