The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology - Saint Mary ...

young Danish student of theology, at Wittenberg, and who was an intimate
friend of Luther, was confessedly admirable, pithy, and Luther-like. The
translation which Selneccer prepared, or selected, for the Book of
Concord, 1580, was an entirely new one, very inferior to the old, 328 and
this, after undergoing two sets of changes, is the one now ordinarily found
in the Latin editions of the Symbol. This is one of the translations to which
appeal is made, in the face of the original, and language is used which
leaves the reader under the impression that these articles were translated
under Luther's eye, and the translation approved by him.
The German translation of the Apology, found in the Editio Princeps
of the German Concordia, and in most other editions, adds some things
which are not in the Latin, and omits some things which are there. Which
is the authority, Melanchthon's Latin, or Jonas' German, if a dispute arise
as to the meaning of the Apology?
3. The Larger Catechism was first translated by Lonicer, faithfully,
and into good Latin. The second translation was made by Opsopaeus, and
this was changed in various respects by Selneccer, and thus changed, was
introduced into the Book of Concord.
4. The Smaller Catechism was first rendered into Latin by an
unknown hand, then by Sauermann. "This translation seems to have been
introduced into the Concordien-buch, but with changes," says Köllner.
The principle involved, which no honest scholar would try to
weaken, is well stated by Walch, in these words: 329 “It is by all means
proper to know what was the original language of each of our Symbolical
Books, since it is manifest that from that, not from translations, we are to
judge of the genuine and true meaning of any book. What they teach we
ought to see, not in versions, but in the original language itself, especially
where the matter or meaning seems involved in some doubt. Versions do
not always agree entirely with the writings as
328 "Diffuse and feeble." F. Francke: L. S. Eccl. Luth. Pars Sec. xi. "Luther's ideas are often inundated in it."--Hase.
329 Introd. in Lib., Symbol, 61.