Translating the Apology of the Augsburg Confession: Praefatio Ad Apologia Confessionis Augustanae (iv)

Semper hic meus mos fuit in his controversiis, ut[1], quantum omnino facere possem, retinerem formam usitatae doctrinae, ut[2] facilius aliquando coire[3] concordia posset. Neque multo secus nunc facio, etsi recte possem longius abducere huius aetatis homines ab adversariorum opinionibus.

Sed adversarii sic agunt causam, ut[4] ostendant se[5] neque veritatem neque concordiam quaerere, sed ut[6] sanguinem nostrum exsorbeant.

Et nunc scripsi, quam moderatissime[7] potui; ac si quid[8] videtur dictum[9] asperius, hic mihi praefandum est[10], me[11] cum theologis ac monachis, qui scripserunt confutationem, litigare, non cum Caesare aut Principibus, quos, ut debeo, veneror. Sed vidi nuper confutationem[12] et animadverti adeo insidiose, et calumniose scriptam esse, ut fallere; etiam cautos in certis locis posset.[13]

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[1] A result clause

[2] A purpose clause

[3] Take an implied nos as a direct object: to unite us

[4] A purpose clause

[5] Se…quaerere:

[6] A purpose clause

[7] Quam+ superlative to indicate the greatest degree possible: As moderately as I am able

[8] Quid=aliquid

[9] Dictum (esse) to form an indirect statement

[10] The passive periphrastic with a dative of agency: I must say this

[11] Me…principibus; an indirect statement

[12] Confutationem…esse: An indirect statement with animadverti and scriptam esse as compound main verbs

[13] Has an impersonal subject: it is possible…

This was always my custom in these controversies: that as much as I was able to do entirely, I retained the form of the usual doctrine so that some time more easily harmony was able to unite us. And I am not doing much differently now although I am far more rightly able to draw away more men of this age from the opinions of the adversaries.

But the adversaries express their cause in such a way so that they show themselves to seek neither the truth nor harmony but so that they can drain our blood.

I also wrote as moderately as I was able; and if anything seems to have been said too harshly, I must say this that I quarrel with the theologians and monks who wrote the confutation, not with the Emperor or the princes whom, as I ought, I honor. But I saw recently that the confutation both to be judged so deceitfully and to have been written under false pretenses as to deceive; it is possible even for the cautious in certain locations.

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