Editing Philip Melanchthon (section)

==Controversies in the 1550s==
[[File:Lutherstadt Wittenberg 09-2016 photo10.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Melanchthonhaus (Wittenberg)|Melanchton's house]] in [[Wittenberg]]]]

In 1552 the Elector of Saxony declared himself ready to send deputies to a council to be convened at [[Trento|Trent]], but only under the condition that the Protestants should have a share in the discussions, and that the [[Pope]] should not be considered as the presiding officer and judge. This declaration was partly due to advice from Melanchthon. As it was agreed upon to send a confession to Trent, Melanchthon drew up the [[Confessio Saxonica]], a repetition of the Augsburg Confession, discussing in greater detail the points of controversy with Rome. On his way to Trent at [[Dresden]] in March 1552, he saw the military preparations of [[Maurice, Elector of Saxony|Maurice of Saxony]], and after reaching [[Nuremberg]], he returned to Wittenberg, as Maurice had turned against the emperor. After his return, the condition of the Protestants became more favourable and were still more so at the [[Peace of Augsburg]] (1555). However Melanchthon's difficulties increased from that time.{{sfn|Kirn|1910|p=281}}

The last years of his life were embittered by disputes over the Interim and the freshly started controversy on the Lord's Supper. As the statement "good works are necessary for salvation" appeared in the Leipzig Interim, in 1551 its Lutheran opponents attacked [[Georg Major]], Melanchthon's friend and disciple. Melanchthon dropped the formula altogether, seeing how easily it could be misunderstood.{{sfn|Kirn|1910|p=281}}

His opponents continued to go against him, accusing him of synergism and [[Zwinglianism]]. At the [[Colloquy of Worms (1557)|Colloquy of Worms]] in 1557 which he had reluctantly attended, the adherents of Flacius and the Saxon theologians tried to humiliate him as a heretic. Melanchthon persevered in his efforts for the peace of the church, suggesting a [[synod]] of the Evangelical party and drawing up the Frankfurt Recess, which he defended later against attacks.{{sfn|Kirn|1910|p=281}}

The controversies on the Lord's Supper embittered the last years of his life. The renewal of this dispute was due to the growing acceptance of [[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] doctrine and its influence upon Germany. He never agreed with this, and the personal presence and self-impartation of Christ in the Lord's Supper were especially important for him, although he did not definitely state how body and blood are related to this. Although rejecting the physical act of [[mastication]], he nevertheless assumed the real presence of the body of Christ and therefore also a real self-impartation. He also differed from Calvin in emphasizing the relation of the Lord's Supper to justification.{{sfn|Kirn|1910|pp=281-282}}