Luther was not satisfied with these compromises, and among other things replied thus: "Summa Summarum, I do not like it at all that you are endeavoring to treat of Unity of doctrine, because this is entirely impossible, unless the Pope is willing to abolish the entire papacy. It would have been sufficient for us to have shown the reasons of our faith, and to have demanded peace. But how can we hope to convert them to the truth?" And concluded thus: "Why do we not perceive that all they are attempting is mere deception and fraud? For you are not able to say that their acts are prompted by the Holy Ghost; for they have neither Repentance, Faith, nor the fear of God. But may the Lord, who began this matter, finish his work in you; to him I heartily commend you."
On the 24th of August, a sub-committee met, in which only Melanchthon and Eck were to meet each other. But upon this occasion Melanchthon took a bolder and more decided stand, and wrote to Luther on the following day: "Our mildness only makes these proud fellows more stubborn. I cannot tell you how they triumph. If I were attending to these matters on my account, and not in the name of the prince, I would by no means endure this insolence. But now I must endure all, because of the common danger of princes and subjects. The spirits of our friends are at times depressed, and again unseasonably brave. However, I trust we shall do nothing against the Gospel." He also sent two other letters, in which he spoke of the mass, which the Papists demanded. Luther replied that they could not consent, and says in his letter of August 28, "Would to God that I might soon see you again, whether you had departed secretly or publicly. You have even done more than enough. And now it is time for the Lord to act in the matter, and he will do it. Be of good cheer, and trust in him." And further on: "You have confessed Christ; you have offered peace; you have been obedient to the Emperor; you have patiently borne much contempt; have been overwhelmed with shame and abuse; and have not returned evil for evil. Summa, you have managed this holy work in a proper manner, as it became saints. Rejoice in the Lord, and be joyous, ye righteous. You have been sad and afflicted long enough in this world; look up, and lift up your heads; I promise heaven to you, as faithful members of Christ. What greater honor do you desire? Is it so small a matter to serve the Lord Jesus faithfully, and to have proved yourselves faithful members of Christ? Far be it from us, that the Grace of Christ should be so lightly esteemed by you. I await your return with great anxiety, so that I may wipe away your sweat after this."
All these efforts, as might have been foreseen, did not effect peace, so that the committee adjourned August 30, and Melanchthon wrote to Luther September 1: "Three days ago we brought our Conference to a conclusion. We would not accept the proposed terms of Union on the subjects of the one kind in the Sacrament, of the Canon of Private Masses, and also of the Celibacy of the Priesthood. Now the matter has again been laid before the Emperor, and I do not know what will be done. Let us only pray God that he may influence the heart of the Emperor to maintain peace, which we need so much, and not we alone, but all Germany. You cannot believe how the Nurembergers and others hate me on account of the restoration of Jurisdiction to the Bishops. In this manner do our friends merely contend for power, and not for the Gospel. A certain friend wrote: If the Pope had bribed me with never so much money, I could not have invented a better plan to restore the papal supremacy than the one we have taken appears to the people. Yet I have not, up to this time, dropped or given up a single article of doctrine."
Although Melanchthon did really not give up a single doctrinal point, he was yet justly to be blamed for wishing to restore jurisdiction to the Bishops. How soon would they have suppressed the true doctrine! Jerome Baumgärtner, otherwise a friend of Melanchthon, expresses himself very strongly in regard to him: "Philippus has become more childish than a child;" and calls upon Spengler: "You will do your part, and write to Dr. Martin Luther, that he, as the one by whom God first again revealed his word to the world, should put a stop to Philip's course, and should warn the pious princes, and especially his own sovereign, against him, and exhort them to be steadfast. For no man has done more harm to the Gospel during this Diet, up to the present day, than Philip." This judgment is indeed too severe; and Baumgärtner, at a later period, himself repented of having formed so severe a judgment. It is true, also, that Melanchthon did not only defend Episcopal jurisdiction during the Diet of Augsburg, but has also expressed his approbation of it in a number of places. He did this for the sake of order in the Church.
September 7.—The Emperor summoned the Evangelical States to appear before him. His answer, given by the Elector of the Palatinate, Frederick, was an ungracious one. He had heard with displeasure that they disagreed with others in the principal articles. He would speak with the Pope in regard to a General Council, yet on the condition that they would, in the mean time, adhere to the Catholic Church. But the Protestants now behaved like true Protestants, by declaring that they would abide by the word of God. The more moderate Catholics, at the head of whom were the Baron of Truchsess, and Vehus, the Chancellor of Baden, once more made efforts to bring about an accommodation, but without success. There were thirteen articles on which they could not unite. These were delivered to the mediators just mentioned. The first treats of justification through grace by faith in Christ; the second, that works indeed are necessary, but do not earn grace. The third declares that the enumeration of particular sins is not needful in confession; the fourth, that repentance is necessary, but that our sins are not forgiven on this account, but on account of our faith, by which we believe the Gospel; the fifth, declares the ecclesiastical exercises of penance unnecessary for the remission of punishment; and the sixth declares that uniform human ordinances are not, but unity in doctrine and sacrament are needful to constitute a true unity. The seventh rejects the self-elected service of God, by which men wish to earn his grace, and which has been established without God's command. The eighth declares monastic vows, which men consider meritorious, opposed to the Gospel. The ninth permits the observance of such rules of the Church as may be kept without sin, but not as if they were needful to salvation. The tenth declares the invocation of saints to be a very dangerous practice, and one greatly diminishing the glory of Christ. The eleventh declares that the denial of the cup is opposed to Scripture; and the twelfth, that the prohibition of marriage to priests is also unscriptural. The thirteenth and last article maintains that the mass is not a work with which to earn grace, but that grace is offered in the Lord's Supper, and faith obtains it.
After all attempts to bring about an agreement had been made, the Emperor summoned the States on the 22d of September, in order to present to them the final decree of the Diet. He declared their positions thoroughly refuted by the holy Gospels and other writings, but would give time for further deliberation on the contested points until the 15th of April of the following year. During this time they should not print or sell anything new in matters of faith, should not draw over any one to join their sect, should not oppress those yet holding to the old Christian faith and practice, and unite with him in opposing the Sacramentarians and Anabaptists. He would endeavor to bring about that a General Council would be summoned in six months. The Protestants replied, by Chancellor Brück, that they considered their Confession to be founded on the word of God, and that it was divine truth, so that they trusted to abide by it in the day of judgment. At the same time, Brück also presented a written defence, which the Emperor, however, would not accept. This was the well-known Apology of the Augsburg Confession, in its rough draft. Melanchthon had been preparing it for some time, with the assistance of several theologians. But as he only received a copy of the Catholic Confutation towards the close of the Diet, he laid this sketch aside, and prepared one of his ablest works, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, which has justly been enrolled among the number of the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. He did not, however, complete it until the following year. The Protestants prayed for a more gracious discharge, but the Emperor adhered firmly to the decree. On this account, the Elector of Saxony, together with Melanchthon and the other theologians, departed from Augsburg September 23d, leaving a few counsellors to hear the general final decree of the Diet.
When Luther heard of the departure of the Elector, he was much rejoiced, and congratulated the prince: "I am heartily rejoiced that your Electoral Grace has, by God's grace, escaped from the hell at Augsburg. And although human displeasure, and its god the devil, may look sour, we still entertain the hope that God's grace, which hath begun with us, will remain more strongly with us in time to come." The Elector passed through Nuremberg to Coburg, where Luther was expecting him with the greatest anxiety. On the road to Wittenberg, the theologians stopped in Altenburg, to visit Spalatin. Melanchthon, who was constantly revolving his Apology of the Augsburg Confession in his mind, wrote even while partaking of his meals. But Luther snatched the pen from his hand, and said: "We can serve God, not only by labor, but also by rest; therefore, too, has he given us the third commandment, and ordained the Sabbath." At last they arrived in Wittenberg. How Melanchthon rejoiced! To his friend Silberborner, who had asked him for an account of the Diet of Augsburg, he now wrote a detailed letter, in which he expressed himself favorably of the Emperor, e. g.: "Without referring to other matters, he has with great condescension heard our side in this matter of religion, in which he had been excited against us by the many wonderful arts of our enemies." "The remaining history of the Diet constitutes a lengthy tragedy." He now briefly describes the course of events, and says: "The remotest posterity will bear testimony, that our intentions were pious and conscientious, and that we exerted ourselves honestly to clear up the doctrine of the Catholic Church, and to promote the glory of Christ. This truly is the reasonable service of God, with which he is pleased above all things: To teach and practise the word of God in its purity. Even should we be overwhelmed by unfair means, our writings will undoubtedly transmit to posterity a picture of our opponents, who, while they excite princes against us, under the pretext of serving the honor of Christ, neither care for the temple of the Church, nor for the doctrine of the Gospel, nor for the Glorification of the name of Christ. However, the whole matter is in the hand of God. Therefore will we pray to God that, for Christ's sake, he would put mild means in the hands of our rulers, and that he may not suffer the pure doctrines of the Gospel to perish."
On the 19th of November, the final general decree of the Diet was published. It was very severe, for it condemned everything taught by the Lutherans in opposition to the Roman Church; it confounds them with the Anabaptists, and commands that all innovations in doctrine and practice shall be abolished, and the former state of things re-established. The Protestants did not sign it. Thus a division between the Catholic and Evangelical states was fully accomplished.