Apology of the Augsburg Confession

The Apology of the Augsburg Confession was written by Philipp Melanchthon during and after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg as a response to the Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession, Charles V's commissioned official Roman Catholic response to the Lutheran Augsburg Confession of June 25, 1530. It was intended to be a defense of the Augsburg Confession and a refutation of the Confutation. It was signed as a confession of faith by leading Lutheran magnates and clergy at the meeting of the Smalcald League in February, 1537, and subsequently included in the German [1580] and Latin [1584] Book of Concord. As the longest document in the Book of Concord it offers the most detailed Lutheran response to the Roman Catholicism of that day as well as an extensive Lutheran exposition of the doctrine of Justification.

The major sections of the Apology are listed below, along with the article of the Augsburg Confession that Melanchthon is defending.

1. Concerning Original Sin—Article II

2. Concerning Justification—Article IV

3. Concerning Love and the Fulfilling of the Law

4. Concerning the Church—Articles VII and VIII

5. Concerning Repentance—Article XII

6. Concerning Confession and Satisfaction

7. Concerning the Number and Use of the Sacraments—Article XIII

8. Concerning Human Traditions in the Church—Article XV

9. Concerning the Invocation of Saints—Article XXI

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