We think also, some objectionable parts of the ceremonial itself were
changed, although the Confession asserts that the addition of some
German hymns, along with the Latin, was the only alteration made. Among
those objectionable parts retained, was _the elevation of the host_,
of which Luther thus speaks, in his _Short Confession about the
Sacrament_ against the Fanatics,in 1544. [Note 1] "It, happened about
twenty or twenty-two years ago, when I began to condemn the mass
(messe,) and wrote severely against the papists, to show that it (the
mass) was not a sacrifice, nor a work of ours, but a gift and blessing
or testament of God, which we could not offer to God, but ought and
must receive from him. At that time I was disposed to reject _the
elevation of the host_, on account of the papists, who regard it, as a
sacrifice, &c. But as our doctrine was at that time new and exceedingly
offensive over the whole world, I had to proceed cautiously, and on
account of the weak, to yield many things, which I, at a later period,
would not do. I therefore suffered the elevation of the host, to
remain, especially as it admits of a favorable, explanation, as I
showed in my little work '_De Captivitate Babylonica, &c._'" The
elevation of the host was still practised in Saxony generally in 1542,
[Note 2] twelve years after the Confession was written, approving of
the ceremonies of the mass, of which this was one.
Pages:
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90