Confutatio Augustana and Confessio Augustana

The ''Confutatio Augustana'' was the Roman Catholic refutation ( confutation) of the ''

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

'', often referred to in the theological literature as simply the ''Confutatio''. On 25 June 1530 the Protestant Imperial States of the realm met at the

Diet of Augsburg The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...

, and presented Charles V with the Augsburg Confession, largely the work of

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

setting out the doctrines and practices of the church in the Protestant principalities. The emperor commissioned the papal theologians to prepare a response. An initial version of the ''Confutatio'' was rejected by the emperor, as excessively polemic and verbose. In formulating the ''Confutatio'', the lead was taken by Johann Eck. On 3 August 1530, the final version was read at the Diet. The ''Confutatio'' rejected some of the statements of the Augsburg Confession while affirming others. It called for a return to Catholic doctrine. In other respects, however, the ''Confutatio'' found common ground with the Augsburg Confession. Emperor Charles V refused to hand over the text to the Protestants, unless they agreed not to respond, which they refused. But the Protestants had transcribed it as it was read. Melanchthon responded with the ''Prima delineatio'', which was rejected by the Emperor. Later Melanchthon improved this document and presented it as the ''

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 r ...

'', which was signed at a 1537 meeting of the Schmalkaldic League. The Catholic side did not respond to this formally until the Council of Trent.

Bibliography

Heiko Oberman. ''The Reformation: Roots and Ramifications''
Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004. * Johann Ficker: ''Die Konfutation des Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses''. Leipzig 1891 * Herbert Immenkötter Um die Einheit im Glauben. Die Unionsverhandlungen des Augsburger Reichstages. Münster 1974
The Book of Concord: Full text of the ''Confutatio''
{{Authority control Catholic theology and doctrine Religious studies books Christian statements of faith 1530 books