The general confession and absolution has been challenged and omitted by some preachers, therefore the council requests Luther's and Melanchthon's expert opinion on it.
The concept is in the district archive at Nuremberg in the Briefbuche des Raths. Printed by Kolde, ^.nalseta, p. 185.
Mr. Martin Luther, Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and Magister Philippo Melanchtoni, etc., at Wittenberg, in their entirety and in particular.
Dignitaries and scholars! In our city of Nuremberg and in other places of our jurisdiction, this (and in our opinion not un-Christian) practice has been held in the churches for some time, so that on feast days the common sermon has been preached in the pulpits, likewise over the altar before the communion of the body and blood of Christ, that the preacher or verger has made a common open confession and after the end of it has announced absolution or release to the assembled people 2c. which, however, some of our church servants, half of us unknowing, have abandoned and dropped, and have also indicated to us, upon our annotations having occurred because of this, that such common absolution is not useful, but rather harmful, and that private absolution alone is good and salutary. This has been refuted by our other preachers and wise theologians, and our citizens and dependents, and a great number of them, but especially we of the Council of the
1) Thus, Walch correctly added to the gap found in the text.
The same discontinuation of the common absolution is highly complained of, for reasons that many pious Christian persons, who are not convenient to go to the holy sacrament every Sunday or week and to receive the private absolution, would like to hear the common public absolution from the pulpits and the altar as a happy, joyful message, in which pardon of their sins and God's gracious mercy would be proclaimed to them, and have received not a little doubt and disquiet of their consciences by such a postponement and refutation of the common release, moreover, that according to the great amount of people in our city, and with the few parishes found therein, it is not yet well possible to examine every person before receiving the holy sacrament and to communicate the private absolution. Besides this, we are also told that in the Electorate of Saxony the common absolution is still tolerated and used as a salutary thing, which gives many in our country all the greater reason to complain so much more about the disgusting opposition. However, since we are not inclined to do or permit anything in these and other cases, which might interrupt the honor of the divine word, weaken the faith, and violate Christian love and unity, it is our most urgent request to your dignity that they give us their advice and discretion in this case, But before that, for what Christian reason the common absolution should not be good, but rather harmful, and therefore most reasonably to be omitted rather than used, let us know in writings, so that in this we may all the more quiet our own and ourselves, and do everything that is according to God's word and Christian, and allow nothing troublesome. We want to earn this for your dignity quite willingly. Date Tuesday (Erchtag) April 8, 1533.
No. 1968