Book: American Lutheranism Vindicated; or, Examination of the Lutheran Symbols, on Certain Disputed Topics

S >> Samuel Simon Schmucker >> American Lutheranism Vindicated; or, Examination of the Lutheran Symbols, on Certain Disputed Topics




We close our observations on this topic with the impressive counsels of
the venerable Dr. Knapp: [Note 6] "Speculations concerning the manner
of the presence of the body and blood of Christ, have not the least
influence upon the nature and efficacy of the Lord's Supper. What the
Christian chiefly needs to know is the object and uses of this rite,
and to act accordingly. Vide Sec.145. He must there therefore believe from
the heart that Christ died for him; that now, in his exalted state, he
is still active in providing for his welfare; and that hence it becomes
him to approach the Lord's table with feelings of the deepest reverence
and most grateful love to God and to Christ. Upon this everything
depends, and this makes the ordinance truly edifying and comforting in
its influence. These benefits may be derived from this ordinance by all
Christians; and to all who have true faith, or who allow this ordinance
to have its proper effect in awakening attention to the great truths
which it exhibits, it is a powerful, divinely-appointed means of grace,
whatever theory respecting it they may adopt--the Lutheran, the Reformed,
or even the Roman Catholic transubstantiation, gross as this error is."

_The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession_.

The general principle, on which this Recension was constructed, is to
present the doctrinal articles entire, without the change of a single
word, merely omitting the several sentences generally regarded as
erroneous, together with nearly the entire condemnatory clauses, and
_adding nothing_ in their stead. All that the Recension contains is
therefore the unadulterated Augsburg Confession, slightly abridged. The
following list will show, that _almost the entire Confession is thus
retained,_ a single article only being omitted, viz.: that on Private
Confession and Absolution.

ART. I. _Of God:_ retained _entire_.

ART. II. _Of Natural Depravity:_ entire, except the omission of the
words, "by baptism and the Holy Spirit." The condemnatory clause is
also given, except the name " Pelagians and others, &c."

ART. III. _Of the Son of God and his Mediatorial Work:_ retained
_entire_.

ART. IV. _Of Justification:_ retained _entire_.

ART. V. _Of the Ministerial Office:_ retained _entire_.

ART. VI. _Concerning New Obedience_ (or a Christian Life:) _entire_.

ART. VII. _Of the Church: entire_.

ART. VIII. _What the Church is: entire_, except the omission of the
last two sentences.

ART. IX. _Concerning Baptism:_ according to the German copy. _entire_.

ART. X. _Of the Lord's Supper:_ omits the words "_body_ and _blood_"
and "_truly_," and the phrase "are dispensed_," &c.

ART. XI. _Of Confession:_ omitted, as private confession and
absolution" [sic on punctuation] are confessedly not taught
in Scripture.

ART. XII _Of Repentance (after Backsliding:) entire_, except the
omission of "the church's granting _absolution_ to those manifesting
repentance," and that faith is produced also "_by means absolution_."

ART. XIII. _Of the Use of the Sacraments. entire_.

ART. XIV. _Of Church Orders, (or the Ministry.) entire_.

ART. XV. _Of Religious Ceremonies. entire_.

ART. XVI. _Of Political Affairs;_ (excepting the word "imperial.")
_entire_.

ART. XVII. _Of Christ's Return to Judgment. entire_.

ART. XVIII. _Of Free Will. entire_.

ART. XIX. _Of the Author of Sin. entire_.

ART. XX. _Of God's Works. entire_.

ART. XXI. _Of the Invocation of the Saints_, (except a reference to
the authority of the Romish church, the canons and the fathers.)
_entire_.

Note 1. See Luther's Works, Vol. XXI., p. 34, Leipsic ed. See this
subject ably discussed in several articles in the Evangelical Lutheran,
of December, 1835, by Dr. S. Sprecher, President of Wittenberg
College, Ohio.

Note 2. Koellner's Symbolik, Vol. I., p. 121.

Note 3. Idem. p. 148.

Note 4. P. 344.

Note 5. Hagenbach's Church History of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries, Vol. II., p. 358; also Hahn's Lehrbuch, 1828, p. 578.

Note 6. See Knapp's Theology, translated by L. Woods, Jr., page 513,1
(Glauben's Lehre, &c., 1827,) or German copy, Vol. II., p. 505.


CHAPTER V.
SYNODICAL DISCLAIMER,
_or List of Symbolic Errors rejected by the great body of the churches
belonging to the General Synod_.

Having now arrived at the second part of the Definite Synodical
Platform, namely, that part which is not to be subscribed to by the
members of Synod; but which is published as the view of the majority,
from which individuals are allowed to dissent; we shall pursue the
following order in regard to each topic:

1. We shall recapitulate, briefly, what the Platform does assert.

2. State the objections made to these positions by the plea of Rev.
Mr. Mann.

3. Examine these objections and vindicate what seems to be the truth.
And as the Rev. Mr. Mann confines himself to the alleged errors of the
Augsburg Confession, we shall, with little exception, do the same.

CEREMONIES OF THE MASS.

1. As to _what the Platform teaches_ on this topic, there ought to be
no difficulty; because,

_a_. On page 5 of the Platform, we find a definite list of the errors
contained in the Augsburg Confession, viz.:

1. The approval of the _ceremonies_ of the mass.

2. Private Confession and Absolution.

3. Denial of the Divine obligation of the Christian Sabbath.

4. Baptismal Regeneration.

5. The real presence of the body and blood of the Saviour in the
Eucharist.

Here it is evident that the charge is, that the Confession advocates
the _ceremonies_ of the mass, but _not the mass itself_, as has been
alleged.

_b_. In the same connexion it is stated, "These are the _only_ errors
contained in the Augsburg Confession." But if these are the only errors
charged, then it follows that the error of inculcating the mass itself,
or doctrine of the mass, is at all events _not charged in the
Platform_, if it is in words even contained in the Confession.

_c_. The _caption_ in the list of errors on page 21 of the Platform, is
not headed the _Mass_, as is the article of the Confession to which it
refers; but what the Confession calls mass, the Platform, _with great
moderation_, styles _Ceremonies_ of the mass.

_d_. In the list of errors, the profession of which should exclude from
membership in Synods accepting the Platform, we find p. 15, the
following: "Whilst we will not admit into our Synod any one who
believes in Exorcism, Private Confession and Absolution, or the
_Ceremonies_ of the Mass." Here again _Ceremonies_ of the mass are
stated, but if the Platform taught that the Mass itself is inculcated
in the Confession, believers in the Mass would, _a fortiori_, have also
been mentioned as excluded.

What then is the meaning of the sentence on page 22 of the Platform,
"In refutation of the _tolerant views of the mass_ above expressed,
&c?" Why, of course we should suppose it meant those views of the mass
which the Platform charges against the Confession, as taught in these
passages, namely, retaining and approving the _ceremonial_ of the mass,
which constituted by far the greater part of the public mass, so
called, although its nature had been changed by denying the
_sacrificial_ character of the minister's act of self-communion, and
its being performed for the benefit of _others_, either living or dead.
We think also, some objectionable parts of the ceremonial itself were
changed, although the Confession asserts that the addition of some
German hymns, along with the Latin, was the only alteration made. Among
those objectionable parts retained, was _the elevation of the host_,
of which Luther thus speaks, in his _Short Confession about the
Sacrament_ against the Fanatics,in 1544. [Note 1] "It, happened about
twenty or twenty-two years ago, when I began to condemn the mass
(messe,) and wrote severely against the papists, to show that it (the
mass) was not a sacrifice, nor a work of ours, but a gift and blessing
or testament of God, which we could not offer to God, but ought and
must receive from him. At that time I was disposed to reject _the
elevation of the host_, on account of the papists, who regard it, as a
sacrifice, &c. But as our doctrine was at that time new and exceedingly
offensive over the whole world, I had to proceed cautiously, and on
account of the weak, to yield many things, which I, at a later period,
would not do. I therefore suffered the elevation of the host, to
remain, especially as it admits of a favorable, explanation, as I
showed in my little work '_De Captivitate Babylonica, &c._'" The
elevation of the host was still practised in Saxony generally in 1542,
[Note 2] twelve years after the Confession was written, approving of
the ceremonies of the mass, of which this was one. This remnant of
popery was, however, universally rejected soon after this period,
certainly before 1545, and in Wittenberg, in 1542.

_Again_, what is the natural import of the phrase on page 21 of the
Platform: "Accordingly the Lutheran church, in Europe and America, has
unanimously repudiated alike the mass and its ceremonies." The passage
itself specifies no time, when either was rejected, and neither says
nor implies that both were rejected at the same time. The word
"accordingly" refers to what preceded. The whole reads thus: "Topic I.,
_Ceremonies_ of the mass. The error taught on this subject by the
Augsburg Confession and Apology to it (namely, the error on these
ceremonies of the mass) was rejected by the reformers themselves a few
years after the Confession was first published. Accordingly, the
Lutheran Church, both in Europe and America, has unanimously
repudiated alike the mass and its ceremonies." As the Augsburg
Confession expressly teaches that private and closet masses had been
_previously_ rejected, and the Platform says the _only_ error in the
Augsburg Confession on this subject is the _ceremonies_ of the public
mass, its sacrificial and vicarious nature having also been repudiated
long before, it follows, that the thing here spoken of as the mass and
its ceremonies is that remnant of this rite, which, as proved above,
had not yet been rejected before 1530, the essential doctrine even of
the public mass having been rejected long before. Hence, the import of
this passage is: that whilst the reformers had long before the Diet of
Augsburg rejected the doctrine of the mass, as a sacrifice or a
vicarious service for the benefit of others, and had wholly rejected
_private and closet masses;_ they retained the ceremonies or ritual of
the public mass, preceding communion: but even this latter also they
renounced soon after; and accordingly, the Lutheran church, every where
in Europe and America, imitating their example, has repudiated alike
the mass and its ceremonies, which with the above-mentioned various
qualifications, are taught in the passages cited from the Confession.
Had we been writing for those unacquainted with the Augsburg
Confession, the qualifications here referred to, might have been
specified.

2. Our _next inquiry is, What objection does the Plea make to the
representations of the Platform on this subject?

The whole charge of our respected friend against the Platform is, that
it misapprehends the _import of the word mass_ in the 24th Article, and
therefore misrepresents the Confession, in charging it with sanctioning
the ceremonies of the Romish mass. To support this charge he affirms,
that the word mass (or missa, mess,) was at the time of the Confession,
in 1530, _in general use for the eucharist;_ and that in later years
the term mass, in this sense, was entirely given up by the Reformers,
page 15 of Plea.

The charge is certainly a grave one, and if unfounded, a grievous
injustice is done to the venerable mother symbol of Protestantism.
Viewing it in this light, we were slow to admit its truth ourselves,
until a pretty extensive acquaintance with the writings of the
Reformers compelled us to yield our conviction. Still we would have
greatly preferred to remain silent on the subject and throw the mantle
of oblivion over this deformity of our symbolic mother; had not
ill-advised ultra-symbolists of late years carried on a crusade against
all Lutherans who will not adopt the entire symbolic system. The charge
in the Platform was advisedly made, after careful examination. Since
the charge has been denied, we have again extensively examined the
writings of the Reformers, and whilst it would afford us pleasure to
withdraw it, and acknowledge our error; our conviction has grown more
firm, and we shall be greatly surprised if the great majority of
impartial minds do not find the evidence of our position fully
satisfactory. At the same time, whilst we charge the Confession with
favoring merely the _ceremonies_ of the mass, other writers of the
first respectability, have expressed the charge in stronger language.
Thus _Fuhrmann_, in his Lexicon of Religious and Ecclesiastical History,
speaking of the Romish mass, says: "_That Luther for some time tolerated
it, and gave if a a German garb and afterwards abolished it, is
notorious_. [Note 3] And that impartial and highly respectable historian
of our own country, Dr. Murdock, whose extended and valuable additions
to the classic church history of Dr. Moshiem, abundantly prove his
acquaintance with the subject; in giving a synopsis of the contents of
the Augsburg Confession, thus epitomises the 24th Article: "_The
Protestants are falsely taxed with abolishing the mass_. They only
purified it; and discarded the idea of its being a work of merit, or
offering for the sins of the living and the dead, which militates
against the scriptural doctrine, that Christ's sacrifice is the only
sin offering." [note 4]

In order that we may give this question an impartial and conscientious
investigation, let us first inquire into the meaning of the word mass
among the Papists, apart from the present dispute. "_Mass_ (missa,
Mess,) says _Fuhrmann_, in his Lexicon of Religious and Ecclesiastical
History, [Note 5] at first signified that worship of God, which
_preceded_ the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Subsequently, and
especially in the fifth century, ministers termed the public celebration
of the eucharist, _mass_ (or missa, dismissed); because this service
took place after the catechumens were dismissed. This word 'missa' was
gradually corrupted into _mass_. But how did that mode of celebrating
this ordinance arise in the Romish Church, _which consisted in the
priest's giving the sacrament to himself alone, connected with solemn
turnings around, and moving about from place to place, and changes of
attitude, resembling in some degree a theatrical exhibition, which is
termed mass?_" He then proceeds to explain the history of the Romish
mass here defined.

_Siegel_, in his excellent Manual of Christian Ecclesiastical
Antiquities, published at Leipsic, in 1837, in four volumes, presents
an extended view of this subject, from which we will extract little
more than his definition of the mass. "The mass, in the Roman Catholic
sense of the term, belongs not to the centuries of Christian antiquity,
but to a later period." [Note 6] We take up the subject at the time
when the Catholic doctrine of _transubstantiation_ was fully developed,
(since the Lateran Council of 1215.) In conformity to this view of the
sacrament, (the doctrine of transubstantiation,) _the idea of the mass
was so developed, as to signify that solemn act of the priest,
decorated with many ceremonies, by which he offers the unbloody
sacrifice at the altar." [Note 7] The mass service is a commixture of
Scripture passages, long and short prayers, extracts from the gospels
and epistles (pericopen,) liturgic forms, which are divided into
several chief parts, designated by different names, Introitus,
Offertorium, Canon missae," &c. [Note 8] This whole service amounts to
some fifteen or twenty octavo pages, including the directions for
genuflections, crossings, tergiversations, &c., occupying about an hour
in the reading, the performance of which by the priest was termed
"reading mass," as the listening of the audience was called "hearing
mass."

In view of these authorities, we may take for granted, what we suppose
no one will deny, that in the Romish Church, not only of the present
day, but since several centuries before the Reformation, and,
therefore, in 1530, the most common and primary meaning of the word
_mass_, was not Lord's Supper; but that long ceremonial, including the
consecration of the elements, elevation of the host, and self-communion
of the priest, as an offering of the body of Christ a sacrifice for the
sins of the living and dead, _which preceded_ the distribution of the
sacrament to the people.

_Again_, it will be admitted, that whilst among Papists the above
specific meaning of the word mass was the most common one, that term
was also not unfrequently used by synecdoche, as a part of the whole,
to designate the sacramental celebration in general: just as we use the
word "_preaching_" which specifically signifies the delivery of a
sermon, for the whole services of public worship in the phrase, "will
you go to preaching to-day?"

_Finally_, it will be admitted, that the Reformers, having been
educated as Papists, were trained up to this twofold use of the word
mass, namely, specifically the extended services above described, which
_preceded_ the communion, and sometimes informally the eucharist,
communion or sacrament in general.

The question then seems definitely to be reduced to these two inquiries;
first, _Did the Reformers retain this distinction in the use of the word
mass at the time of the Diet at Augsburg; and, secondly, did they employ
the word in its specific sense in the disputed passages of that
Confession?

_First Inquiry_.

We shall _first_ inquire whether this distinction in the use of the word
mass was observed by the Reformers at and before the time of the
Augsburg Diet?

I. And _first_ let us listen to _Luther_ himself. In 1523, the great
Reformer, 1, in his "_Method of conducting Christian Mass_," addressed
to Rev. Nicolas Hausman, after having rejected such portions of the
Romish mass, as he thought wrong, he approved others, as explained by
himself, such as the, Introitus, the Kyrie eleison, the Collecta or
prayer epistles, the Singing of the Gradual, a short sequens, the
Gospel, the Nicene Creed, and a number of other matters, including the
elevation of the host, but not for worship, [Note 9] he proceeds to the
next part of the Treatise which is headed "How to _administer the most
holy sacrament to the people," [Note 10] and his first sentence is the
following: "Let this much suffice to be said of the _Mass_, and service
of the minister; we will now proceed to treat of the manner in which the
holy _sacrament_ shall be administered to the people, for whose benefit
especially the Supper of our Lord was instituted." Here we clearly see
the distinction between the performances of the priest _before_ the
communion which constitute the _Mass_, and the distribution of the
elements to the people, which he terms holy _sacrament_. Then, after
having discussed the subject of the communion, that it should be
received in both kinds, &c., he adds, "Let this suffice for the present
on the subject of the mass _and_ communion." [Note 11]

2. In his _letter to Lazarus Spengler_, in 1528, Luther observes this
same distinction. "In the first place," he remarks, "it is unreasonable
that any one should be forced to receive the sacrament or to abstain
from it." And he adds: "All masses, at which there are _no
communicants_" (that is, at which the sacrament is not administered,)
"should absolutely be omitted." [Note 12] Here the administration of
the supper to the laity is termed _sacrament_, and that service
performed by the minister, which was sometimes succeeded by the
sacrament or communion, and at others not, is called _mass_.

3. _The Counsel of Luther and Pomeranius_, in 1528, to Duke George:
"First, as you inquire concerning _parish_ masses, &c. Be it known to
you that no minister can with good conscience perform mass alone, when
there are no communicants. Therefore here there is no room for further
inquiry; either there must be communicants, or them should be no
mass." [Note 13]

4. Luther's "_Confession of the Christian Doctrines, in XVII.
Articles_," published in 1530. This is a very short Confession, each
article containing but three or four sentences, and the whole amounting
to only three or four 8vo. pages. In Article X. he says: "The
_eucharist_ or _sacrament_ of the altar also consists of two parts,
namely that the true body and blood of Christ should verily be present
in the bread and wine;" and in Article XVI. he says: "Above all other
abominations, the _masses_, that have hitherto been regarded as a
_sacrifice_ or _good work_, by which one designed to procure grace for
the other, are to be rejected." [Note 14] Here the distinction is not
only made between the mass and eucharist, but the doctrine of the mass
as a sacrifice of Christ offered by the priest for others, is also
denounced. It will also be recollected that this view of the mass as a
sacrifice, and as vicarious, is strongly denounced in the Augsburg
Confession, whilst the charge of having rejected the rite itself with
these and other modifications, is flatly denied, in these words: "It is
_unjustly_ charged against our churches, that they have abolished the
mass," (Art. XXIV., p. 21 of the Platform,) a thing never charged
against them in reference to the eucharist, for from the very beginning
of the Reformation, they charged the Papists with having mutilated it,
and claimed the restoration of the cup also to the laity.

5. In a _letter_ of September 20, 1530, addressed _to Justus Jonas_, one
of the theologians at the diet, Luther thus expresses himself: "For,
what else do our opponents, (the Papists,) presume to propose, than that
they shall not yield a hairsbreadth, but that we not only yield on the
subject of the canon, _the mass_, the _one kind_, (in the eucharist,)
celibacy, (of the clergy,) and jurisdiction (of the bishops); but shall
also admit that they have taught the truth, and acted properly in all
things, and were falsely accused by us." [Note 15] Here the mass is
again distinguished from the eucharist in one kind. He then adds: "If we
will get at it (yielding to the Papists,) let us yield only the canon,
and the closet masses; and either of these two is sufficient fully to
deny our doctrine and to confirm theirs." The _canon_ was that part of
the ritual of the mass which contained the forms of transubstantiation,
which were positively rejected by the reformers, the closet masses are
rejected in the Augsburg Confession; but Luther says nothing against the
public mass, qualified as it is in the Confession.

6. In his _Exhortation to the Sacrament_ of the body and blood of
Christ, published in 1530, he says: "If the Papists do, as usual,
quibble at my language, and boast that I myself here make a sacrifice
in the _sacrament_, although I have hitherto contended that the _mass_
is no sacrifice; then you shall answer thus: I make _neither the mass
nor the sacrament_ a sacrifice, ("Ich mache _weder_ Messe _noch_
Sacrament zum opfer,") but the remembrance of Christ," [Note 16] &c.
Here the two are distinguished as clearly as language can discriminate
between two separate objects, and even placed in antithesis to one
another: and let it be remembered, that all the examples are taken from
works published either before or in the very year in which the Augsburg
Confession was written. A few years later, in 1534, in a letter to a
friend, in which he inveighs strongly against the closet masses and the
perverted order or arrangements of the mass, (verkehrte ordnung der
Messe,) and against the Romish mass in general: "I wish, and would very
gladly see and hear, that the two words mass and sacrament were
considered by every one as being as far apart as light and darkness,
yea, as the devil and God. For they (the Papists) must themselves
confess, that mass dues not signify the reception of the sacrament as
Christ instituted it; but the reception of the sacrament they do, (and
no thanks to them,) they _must_ call _communion. But that is called_
MASS _which the priest alone performs at the altar, in which no common
christian or layman takes part_." All other christians do nothing more
than receive the sacrament, _and do not perform mass_. [Note 17]
Certainly it must be evident that Luther did not regard the word mass as
the ordinary term for eucharist, but had a clear idea of the
distinction, and of the importance of observing it.

II. Let us now adduce similar evidence from the writings of
_Melancthon himself_, who wrote the Confession, to show that he also
observed the distinction between _mass_ and _eucharist_. This evidence
will be the stronger as all his letters quoted, were written from
Augsburg itself, during the very time that he composed the Confession,
and whilst it was under consideration in the Diet. [Note 18]

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