Fathers

A Candid Inquiry into the Controversies among Evangelicals · §115

§.VI: Our writers press the case; Mentzer himself owns the Variata's later public approval as same in substance

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Our own writers have chased all this out at more length — Hospinian, Georg Pauli, Sohn, Ursinus, and the rest.

Here I mark especially the author of the Ausführliche Behauptung (pp. 27 and 57; and the Anhang, pp. 25–36), and our own venerable Becmann under the name Orthuinus Gratius against Liebhard (ch. III §2, pp. 73–74 entire).

Becmann also brings forward causes for varying the Augsburg Confession that deserve a hearing (from p. 69), and he beats back hard the stock objections aimed at the Variata's later approval (pp. 73–81), following Crocius on Augsburg fellowship (chs. 54–56).

With Crocius he also drains and turns aside both the older Hutterian cavils (Concordia Concordi, pp. 344 and 418ff.; Anti-Peucer from p. 7) and the newer Calovian ones (Critica Sacra, pp. 203–228).

For us it is enough to note this: even Balthasar Mentzer, a sturdy enough foe of the Variata, candidly owns the later public approval for which we now argue.

In his Prolegomena to the Augsburg Confession (p. 21) he writes: those who admitted the changed Confession have publicly testified that they receive it thus far and no otherwise — insofar as in the things themselves it plainly agrees with the prototype, as the History of the Naumburg Convention shows (p. 61).

So Mentzer. How the imperial Estates themselves took that point, we saw a little earlier in their letter to Ferdinand I.

And even Mentzer's own words make plain that the Varied Augsburg Confession was held to agree with the prototype in the things themselves.

Latin

Omnia haec prolixius prosecuti sunt nostates, Hospinianus, Georgius Pauli, Sohnius, Ursinus aliique, etiam hôc locô praecipuè commemorandi tum Auctor der ausführlichen Behauptung à pag. 27. & 57; etiam in appendice, oder dem Anhang der ausführlichen Behauptung à pag. 25. ad 36. tùm Venerandus Becmannus noster, sub nomine Orthuini Gratii contra Liebhardum Cap. III. §. 2. integrô à pag. 73. ad 74. qui etiam variandae Confessionis Augustanae causas haud negligendas in medium adducit, à pag. 69. & exceptiones, Approbationi subsequenti variatae Confess. intentari solitas, nervose retundit l. cit. à pag. 73. ad 81. Crocium secutus, Comment. de Aug. Conf. Societate Cap. 54. 55. 56. cum quo etiam Cavillationes, tàm Vetustiores seu Hutterianas, in Concordia Concordi, p. m. 344. & 418. ac seqq., nec non in Anti-Peucero à pag. 7., quàm recentiores & Calovianas Crit. Sacr. à pag. 203. ad 228. enervat eluditque. Nobis hic suffecerit annotasse, etiam Balth. Mentzerum, Variatae Confessionis Oppugnatorem satis strenuum, approbationem hujus subsequentem publicam, pro qua nunc disputamus, ingenuè agnovisse, quando in Prolegom. ad August. Confess. p. m. 21. ita scribit: Qui mutatam Confessionem admiserunt, publicè testati sunt, hactenus & non aliter à se recipi, quatenus in ipsis rebus planè conveniat cum Prototypo, sicuti patet ex Hist. Conventus Navenburgici pag. 61. Hactenus Mentzerus; quod ipsum quomodo intellexerint Status Imperii, vidimus paulò ante ex Epistola eorum ad Ferdinandum primum scripta. Praeterquam quòd, vel ex adductis è Mentzero verbis, apparet, Variatam Confessionem Augustanam in ipsis rebus planè cum Prototypo convenientem habitam fuisse.

About this text

Samuel Strimesius — Prefatio through Controversiae Post Lutherum Controv. III-XIII + XV Tolerantia, Hexades Annotationum Prooemium and Annotatio I through Decem Theses / Francus plus Annotatio II §.I-§.VI and Annotatio III §.I–§.VII (through Cassellanum 1661) from Ingenua in Controversias Evangelicorum (Frankfurt an der Oder, 1708). Honest partial; Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio III §.VIII+ fruits / §.IX+, Hexades theses body, deeper Controversiae / Part II remain.

English follows the locked 1708 Francofurti ad Viadrum Latin of Prefatio §I–II, Crimina defenses through III, Part I Protheoria through Controversiae Obices/Historia/Varii gradus, Formula Discord/Disparitas, Ulterius confirmatur / Classes / Formula protest / triplex differentia, Coena Domini Controversiae Priores through Precariae Hypotheses (Controv. print pp. 34–40), Controversiae Post Lutherum Natae Controv. III–XV tip (providence through De Tolerantia mutua; Controv. print pp. 40–78), Hexades Annotationum Prooemium H.I–§.III (Hexades print pp. 1–4 / PDF ~182–185), and Annotatio I De Augustana Confessione §.I–§.VIII tip (Hexades print pp. 5–24+ / PDF ~186–205+), reconstructed from Google Books PDF page images (ONB copy, id 3epYAAAAcAAJ) with pdftotext as check. No modern English was copied. Sister Halle digitization of Ingenua in Arminianismum (DOI 10.25673/65287) remains Anubis-blocked — skipped; Controversias only. Prefatio silence reasons, Annotatio I §.IX+, Hexades theses body beyond §.VIII, and remainder of Controversiae / folio remain.

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