T h e A u g s b u r g C o n f e s s i o n- 3
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ost Invincible Emperor,Caesar Augustus, MostClement Lord: Inasmuch as Your Imperial Majesty has summoneda Diet of the Empire here at Augsburgto deliberate concerning measuresagainst the Turk, that most atrocious,hereditary, and ancient enemy of theChristian name and religion, in what way, namely, effectually to withstandhis furor and assaults by strong andlasting military provision; and thenalso concerning dissensions in thematter of our holy religion and Chris-tian Faith, that in this matter of reli-gion the opinions and judgments of the parties might be heard in eachother's presence; and considered and weighed among ourselves in mutualcharity, leniency, and kindness, in or-der that, after the removal and correc-tion of such things as have been treatedand understood in a different mannerin the writings on either side, thesematters may be settled and broughtback to one simple truth and Chris-tian concord, that for the future onepure and true religion may be em-braced and maintained by us, that as we all are under one Christ and dobattle under Him, so we may be ablealso to live in unity and concord inthe one Christian Church. And inasmuch as we, the under-signed Elector and Princes, with oth-ers joined with us, have been called tothe aforesaid Diet the same as the otherElectors, Princes, and Estates, in obe-dient compliance with the Imperialmandate, we have promptly come to Augsburg, and -- what we do not meanto say as boasting -- we were amongthe first to be here. Accordingly, since even here at Augsburg at the very beginning of theDiet, Your Imperial Majesty caused tobe proposed to the Electors, Princes,and other Estates of the Empire,amongst other things, that the severalEstates of the Empire, on the strengthof the Imperial edict, should set forthand submit their opinions and judg-ments in the German and the Latinlanguage, and since on the ensuing Wednesday, answer was given to YourImperial Majesty, after due delibera-tion, that we would submit the Articlesof our Confession for our side on next Wednesday, therefore, in obedience to Your Imperial Majesty's wishes, weoffer, in this matter of religion, theConfession of our preachers and of ourselves, showing what manner of doctrine from the Holy Scriptures andthe pure Word of God has been up tothis time set forth in our lands, duke-doms, dominions, and cities, andtaught in our churches. And if the other Electors, Princes,and Estates. of the Empire will, accord-ing to the said Imperial proposition,present similar writings, to wit, inLatin and German, giving their opin-ions in this matter of religion, we, withthe Princes and friends aforesaid, herebefore Your Imperial Majesty, our
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