is bona nostra opera necessaria esse necessitate
praesentiae._" "On the other hand, however, they, too, were solicitous
to affirm the impossibility of faith's coexisting with an evil purpose
to sin against God in one and the same mind at the same time." (237;
Gieseler 3, 2, 251.) In the _Apology of the Book of Concord_ the
Lutheran theologians declared: "The proposition (Justification of faith
requires the presence of good works) was rejected [in the _Formula of
Concord_] because it cannot be understood otherwise than of the cause of
justification. For whatever is present in justification as necessary in
such a manner that without its presence justification can neither be nor
occur, that must indeed be understood as being a cause of justification
itself." (238)

148. Major's Concessions Not Satisfactory.

In order to put an end to the controversy, Major offered a concession in
his "_Confession concerning the Article of Justification,_ that is,
concerning the doctrine that by faith alone, without any merit, for the
sake of Christ, a man has forgiveness of sins, and is just before God
and an heir of eternal salvation," 1558. Here he states that he had not
used the controverted formula for several years and, in order not to
give further cause for public contention, he promised "not to employ the
words, 'Good works are necessary to salvation,' any more, on account of
the false interpretations placed upon it." (Preger 1, 396.) In making
this concession, however, Major did not at all intend to retract his
teaching or to condemn his proposition as false. He promised to abstain
from its use, not because he was now convinced of his error and viewed
his propositions as false and incorrect as such, but merely because it
was ambiguous and liable to abuse, and because he wished to end the
conflict. (Frank 2, 166f. 223.)

Nor did Major later on ever admit that he had erred in the matter. In an
oration delivered 1567 he boasted of his intimate relation and doctrinal
agreement with Luther and Melanchthon, adding: "Neither did I ever
deviate, nor, God assisting me, shall I ever deviate, from the truth
once acknowledged. _Nec discessi umquam nec Deo iuvante discedam ab
agnita semel veritate._" He had never thought or taught, said he, that
good works are a cause of justification. And concerning the proposition,
"Good works are necessary to salvation," he had expressly declared that
he intended to abstain from its use "because it had off