J. T. Mueller says: "Luther called the Diet of Augsburg 'the last
trumpet before Judgment Day;' hence we may well call the confession
there made the _blast_ of that trumpet, which, indeed, has gone forth
into all lands, even as the Gospel of God which it proclaims in its
purity." (78.) The highest praise, however, is given the Augsburg
Confession by the Church which was born with it, when, _e.g._, in the
Formula of Concord, the Lutherans designate it as "the symbol of our
time," and glory in it as the Confession, which, though frowned upon and
assailed by its opponents, "down to this day has remained unrefuted and
unoverthrown (bis auf diesen Tag unwiderlegt und unumgestossen
geblieben)." (777, 4; 847, 3.)

IV. Melanchthon's Alterations of the Augsburg Confession.

30. Changes Unwarranted.

Melanchthon continued uninterruptedly to polish and correct the Augsburg
Confession till immediately before its presentation on June 25, 1530.
While, indeed he cannot be censured for doing this, it was though
originally not so intended by Melanchthon, an act of presumption to
continue to alter the document after it had been adopted, signed, and
publicly presented. Even the _editio princeps_ of 1531 is no longer in
literal agreement with the original manuscripts. For this reason the
German text embodied in the Book of Concord is not the one contained in
the _editio princeps,_ but that of the Mainz Manuscript, which, as
stated, was erroneously believed to be the identical German copy
presented to the Emperor. The Latin text of the _editio princeps,_
embodied in the Book of Concord, had likewise undergone some, though
unessential, changes. These alterations became much more extensive in
the Latin octavo edition of 1531 and in the German revision of 1533. The
Variata of 1540 and 1542, however, capped the climax as far as changes
are concerned, some of them being very questionable also doctrinally. In
their "Approbation" of the Concordia Germanico-Latina, edited by
Reineccius, 1708, the Leipzig theologians remark pertinently:
Melanchthon found it "impossible to leave a book as it once was."
Witness his _Loci_ of 1521, which he remodeled three times--1535, 1542,
and 1548. However, the _Loci_ were his own private work while the
Augustana was the property and confession of the Church.

Tschackert is right when he comments as follows: "To-day it is regarded
as an almost incomprehensible trait of Melanchthon's character that
immediately