which God has given, does not console us before him, by what means, then, shall our conscience be restored to peace? They, moreover, teach things still more complicated and perplexing: they teach that men can earn grace by contrition; and if they are here asked, why Saul and Judas, and like individuals, did not merit grace, who were very contrite, they should reply upon this question, that in Judas and Saul there was a want of the Gospel and of faith, that Judas did not console himself through the Gospel, and that he did not believe; for faith makes the distinction between the contrition of Peter and that of Judas.

Our adversaries, however, do not at all take into consideration faith and the Gospel, but the law, saying: Judas did not love God, but was alarmed with the fear of punishment. Is this not treating of repentance in a loose and an inadequate manner? For when shall men whose consciences are alarmed, especially when they feel the real and great agonies which are described in the Psalms and the writings of the prophets, be able to judge, whether they fear God through love, as their God, or whether they flee and hate his wrath and their own eternal condemnation ?

They may perhaps have experienced but little concerning these great agonies, since they quibble, and make distinctions according to their own dreams; but in their hearts, when they shall have experienced these, they will find it quite different, and that no conscience can be pacified with mere words and syllables, as the unconcerned and idle sophists dream. Here we appeal to all who have the fear of God before them, to all pious and intelligent individuals, who willingly acknowledge the truth ;-these will confess that in all the books of our adversaries there is nothing taught correctly concerning repentance, but that they contain mere complicated phrases: and yet this is a chief article of Christian doctrine, concerning repentance and the remission of sins.

These doctrines, concerning the questions which we have now enumerated, are full of error and hypocrisy, by which the true doctrine of Christ, of the power of the keys, and of faith is suppressed, to the unspeakable injury of conscience.

Further, they propagate more errors still; when they should speak of confession, they oppress the mind with enumerating sins and making long registers, and for the most part these are filled up with sins against human commands; and here they force the people to these things, as if such enumeration be de jure divino, that is, of divine command. And this would still not have been so oppressive, if they had only taught correctly concerning absolution

and faith. But these they pass over unnoticed, omitting the chief consolation, and imagine that works, confession, and contrition, make a person pious ex opere operato, without Christ and faith. They may be properly termed Jews.

The third part of this subject is the satisfactio, or atonement for sins. Upon this point their instructions are still more perplexed and erroneous; they transform hundreds into thousands, so that the poor understanding of men is utterly unable to discover any promise which offers consolation or peace. For here they imagine that eternal punishments before God, are changed into punishments in purgatory, and that a part of these punishments are forgiven and remitted through the power of the keys, and a portion must be atoned for by works. They add still more, calling the atonement opera supererogationis; and these are their puerile and foolish workspilgrimages, rosaries, and the like, which have no command of God.

And moreover, as they redeemed and released the pains of purgatory by their atonement or expiation, so they likewise still farther invented a scheme for the purpose of redeeming also the atonement for purgatory, which finally became very desirable and profitable, and resulted in a great annual fair. For without shame they sold their indulgences, and asserted that he who procures an indulgence, thus buys himself free from that which he otherwise would be compelled to expiate; and this charlatanry, this annual fair, they carried on without shame, not only for the purpose of selling indulgences to the living, but also to compel men to purchase them for the dead: besides this, they also introduced the terrible abuse of the mass, pretending to redeem the dead by holding mass; and under such doctrines of the devil the whole Christian doctrine concerning faith and Christ, and how we should be consoled by it, were suppressed.

Wherefore, all honest, upright, and intelligent persons, saying nothing of Christians, will perceive and understand here, that it was altogether necessary to reprehend such ungodly doctrine of the sophists and Canonists: for this doctrine of theirs is manifestly false, wrong, contrary to the clear words of Christ, contrary to all the writings of the Apostles, to all the Scriptures, and to the Fathers; and these are their errors:

I. That God must forgive us our sins, if we do good works, even if we are not in grace.

II. That we earn grace by attrition or contrition.

III. That it is sufficient to obliterate our sins, if we hate and reprove them.

IV. That we obtain remission of our sins through our contrition, not by faith in Christ.

V. That the power of the keys grants the remission of sins, not before God, but before the church or the people.

VI. That through the power of the keys, not only sins are forgiven, but the same power is established, in order to convert eternal into temporal punishments, to enforce the idea of certain retributions upon our understanding, and to create a system of sacred duties and obligations, to which it binds and subjects our consciences before God.

VII. That the enumeration, and especially the calculation of all sins, are commanded of God.

VIII. That satisfactiones, which are established by man, are competent to the remission of punishment, or even to compensate for the crime. For, although in the schools the satisfactiones are discounted only for the punishment, yet it is universally understood that by this means forgiveness of the crime is merited.

IX. That through the reception of the sacrament of repentance, (as they term it,) we obtain grace, ex opere operato, without faith in Christ, even if we are not sincere in our hearts.

X. That by the power of the keys, through indulgences, souls are released from purgatory.

XI. That in reservation of cases not only the canonical punishment, but the crime of the sins before God can be reserved by the pope, in those who are truly converted to God.

For the purpose, then, of extricating the conscience from these innumerable bonds and complicated snares of the sophists, we assert that, Repentance or conversion consists of two parts, contrition and faith. If any one, however, feels disposed to add a third part, viz. the fruits of repentance and conversion, which are good works that shall and must follow, we shall not contend much against him. But when we speak de contritione, that is, concerning true contrition, we omit these innumerable and useless disputations which they introduce: "When are we contrite through the love of God?" again, "When are we contrite through fear of punishment?" For these are nothing but empty words and vain expressions, to those who have not experienced the effects of an alarmed conscience.

And we affirm that contrition or real penitence exists, when our consciences are alarmed, and when we begin to feel our sins and the great wrath of God on account of them, and are sorry that we have sinned. And this contrition thus takes place, when our sins are chastised by the word of God. For in these two parts consists the

substance of the Gospel :-First it says, reform yourselves; and it convicts all men of sin. In the second place, it offers the remission of sins, eternal life, salvation, full felicity, and the Holy Spirit, through whom we are born anew.

Thus Christ also comprises the substance of the Gospel, where he says, Luke 24, 47: "Repentance and the remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." And with respect to terror and anguish of conscience, the Scripture speaks in the 38 Psalm verse 4: "Mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me;" and in the sixth Psalm verses 2 and 3: "Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore. vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?" And Isaiah 38, 10, 13, 14: "I said, in the cutting off my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years," &c. "I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones," &c. Again, "Mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me." In these agonies the conscience feels the wrath and displeasure of God on account of sin, a thing which is unknown to such idle and carnal-minded people as the sophists. For here the mind first perceives that sin is a great disobedience to God; here the terrible wrath of God first assails the conscience in reality, and it would be impossible for human nature to bear it, without relief from the word of God.

For thus says Paul, Gal. 2, 19: "For I through the law am dead to the law;" because the law only accuses and alarms our conscience, and commands what we are under obligation to do. And here our adversaries speak not a word about faith, they teach not a word about Christ or the Gospel, but impart their own inventions, and affirm that people may secure divine favor by these mortifications, this contrition and sorrow, by these feelings of anguish, provided they love God, and derive their contrition from their love towards God. Gracious God, what kind of preaching is this for the consciences of those men who have need of consolation? How is it possible for us to love God, when under the pressure of anguish so severe, and of agonies so ineffable, feeling the great and terrible displeasure and wrath of God, which are more forcibly felt than man upon earth is able to express or describe? To what else, then, but to mere desperation, are the instructions of those preachers and teachers leading, who preach nothing but the law to minds depressed in these great agonies, without mentioning the Gospel or

the proper consolation? But to this we add the other part of repentance, and assert that in the terror of conscience, the Gospel of Christ shall be presented, in which is promised through him the remission of sin by grace. And, such a conscience should believe that sins are forgiven it for the sake of Christ. This faith again elevates, consoles, vivifies, and renders joyful such contrite hearts; as Paul to the Romans, Rom. 5, 1, says: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." This faith rightly points out the difference between the contrition of Judas and of Peter, that of Saul and of David. And for this reason the contrition of Judas and of Saul was of no effect, because they were not in possession of faith which apprehends the promises of God through Christ.

On the other hand, the contrition of David and Peter was genuine : for they were in possession of faith which comprehends those promises of God, that offer the remission of sins through Christ. For in truth the love of God cannot exist in our hearts, unless we are first reconciled to God through Christ. Because no one is able to keep or to fulfil the law of God, or the first commandment, without Christ; as Paul to the Ephesians, Eph. 2, 18, says: "Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father;" and faith during the whole life contends against sins, and it is proved and strengthened through various temptations. Where this faith exists, there only does the love of God follow, as we have stated above.

And hence this may be properly said to define filial fear (timor filialis) viz. a fear and an alarm before God, with which, however, faith is connected, that is, where faith consoles and sustains the fearful heart but servile fear (servilis timor) is fear without faith, where there is nothing but wrath and desperation.

The power of the keys announces to us the Gospel through absolution for the words of absolution announce unto us peace, and they are the Gospel itself. Therefore, when we speak of faith, we shall include absolution also; because faith is by hearing. (Rom. 10, 17). And when we hear the absolution, that is, the promises of divine grace, or the Gospel, our hearts and our consciences are consoled. And inasmuch as God truly grants new life and comfort in our hearts through the word, sins are truly remitted here upon earth through the power of the keys, so that they are released before God in heaven; as the passage, Luke 10, 16, says: "He that heareth you, heareth me." Wherefore we should no less esteem or believe the words of absolution, than if we heard the express voice of God from heaven; and the absolution, these blissful, consolatory words, might reasona