1530 - Religion

Religion

The Diet of Augsburg in June invites feuding ecclesiastical parties to deliver presentations of their respective faiths (see Marburg, 1529). Roman Catholics do not respond, but The Confession of Augsburg (Confessio Augustana) read June 25 is a detailed explanation of Lutheranism designed to reconcile the Protestants with the Catholic Church. Martin Luther's collaborators Philipp (Schwarzert) Melancthon, 33, and Justus Jonas have prepared the Confession, which fails to move the diet. It orders the abolition of all innovations.

Martin Luther
Martin Luther dared to protest the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church. Religious wars would ensue for centuries. (The Library of Congress.)

Confession Augustana by Philipp Melancthon is published at Wittenberg. A disciple of Erasmus, Melancthon gave Lutheranism a dogmatic basis in his Loci Communes of 1521.

Humanist theologian Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples translates the entire Bible into vernacular French. His translation of the New Testament was published at Paris 7 years ago, a translation of the Old Testament at Antwerp 2 years ago, and the new, combined version will be known as the Antwerp Bible (see Antwerp Polyglot Bible, 1572).