nd
misapprehension,--a qualified rejection which self-evidently could not
and did not satisfy his opponents. In an opinion, dated March 4, 1558,
Melanchthon refuses to reject flatly the controverted formula, and
endeavors to show that it is not in disagreement with the mode of speech
employed in the Bible. We read: "Illyricus and his compeers are not
satisfied when we say that the appendix [to salvation] is to be omitted
on account of the false interpretation given it, but demand that we
simply declare the proposition, 'Good works are necessary to salvation,'
to be wrong. Against this it must be considered what also Paul has said,
Rom. 10: Confession is made to salvation (_Confessio fit ad salutem_),
which Wigand maliciously alters thus: Confession is made concerning
salvation (_Confessio fit de salute_). Again, 2 Cor. 7: 'For godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation,' Likewise Phil. 2: 'Work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling.' Nor do these words sound
any differently: 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be
saved,' Acts 2, 21. But, they say, one must understand these expressions
correctly! That is what we say, too. This disputation however, would be
ended if we agreed to eliminate the appendix and rack our brains no
further--_dass wir den Anhang ausschliessen und nicht weiter
gruebelten._" (9, 474.)

144. Major Champions Error.

The immediate cause of the public controversy concerning the question
whether good works are necessary to salvation was George Major, a
devoted pupil and adherent of Melanchthon and a most active member of
the Wittenberg faculty [Major was born April 25, 1502; 1529 Rector of
the school in Magdeburg; 1536 Superintendent in Eisleben; soon after,
preacher and professor in Wittenberg; 1544 Rector of the University of
Wittenberg; in 1548, at Celle, he, too, submitted to the demands of
Maurice, in the Leipzig Interim he merely objected to the insertion of
Extreme Unction; 1552 Superintendent in Eisleben; professor in
Wittenberg from 1553 until his death in 1574].

"_That Dr. Pommer_ [Bugenhagen] _and Dr. Major have Caused Offense and
Confusion._ Nicholas Amsdorf, Exul Christi. Magdeburg, 1551,"--such was
the title of a publication which appeared immediately prior to Major's
appointment as Superintendent in Eisleben. In it Bugenhagen (who died
1558) and Major (of course, Melanchthon could and should have been
included) were denounced for their connection with the Le