Tag: Concordia

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Higher History

Concord #3: Augsburg Confession (God)

Ceiling art depicting the Christian God

Article 1: God

The Lutheran faith is not an entirely new faith, but is a continuation of the ancient faith of the Christian Church. The beginning of the first Lutheran confession recalls the creedal faith that was articulated in the first several centuries of the New Testament. Many disagreements and false teachings concerning the nature of God and the person of Christ had arisen almost from the time of Pentecost. In the year 325 A.D., pastors and bishops from across the Christian Church assembled a council in the town of Nicaea to hash out what Christians really believe. The result was the Nicene Creed.

“Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term “person” they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself” (Augsburg Confession I.1-4).

Simply put, the God of the Christian Church is three distinct persons—Father, Son, Spirit—who share the same divine substance. Anything that denies this in whole or in part is contrary to the faith and cannot be called Christian. Some errors include considering Jesus or the Holy Spirit to be creatures or something less than fully God, or considering God to be one person who shows Himself in three different ways.

The Augsburg Confession grounds our confession of God in the Nicene Creed, but that does not mean that it’s a faith that was created by a bunch of men hanging out in Nicaea a few hundred years after Jesus suffered, died, rose, and ascended. The faith of Nicaea is grounded in Scripture, and thus the confession of the Lutheran Church is grounded in Scripture.

God’s nature is revealed very simply in the baptismal formula that Jesus gives in the last chapter of Matthew. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 ESV). Three distinct persons; one shared name. The ancient creeds, and the Augsburg Confession that follows, are nothing more than an unfolding of what this divine name means—this name that is baptism’s gift for you.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

 

“Concord” is a weekly study of the Lutheran Confessions, where we will take up a topic from the Book of Concord and reflect on what we believe, teach, and confess in the Lutheran Church. The purpose of this series is to deepen readers’ knowledge and appreciation for the confessions of the Lutheran Church, and to unite them “with one heart” to confess the teachings of Holy Scripture.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.

Categories
Higher History

Concord #2: Augsburg Confession (About)

Luther in Augsburg about his teachings

About 

“We at least leave with you a clear testimony, that we here in no wise are holding back from anything that could bring about Christian concord—such as could be effected with God and a good conscience” (Preface to the Augsburg Confession, paragraph 13).

The first distinctively Lutheran document of the Book of Concord is the Augsburg Confession (also known as the “Augustana”). It follows and is built upon the three Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian). This confession of faith expands on the basic doctrines taught in the creeds, and addresses some controversies that had arisen in the Church.

 

Introduction

The Augsburg Confession was written by theologians—Philip Melanchthon, with input from his colleague and friend, Martin Luther, among others. But the thing that makes the Augsburg Confession stand out is that it was presented and signed by princes and electors. It is the confession of the Lutheran layman.

It is called the Augsburg Confession because it was presented at a conference in the city of Augsburg in the year 1530. At that time, there was still anticipation that an open and honest conversation would bring about reformation and unity in the Church. The preface is written humbly and kindly and is full of hope, and the entire document seeks a peaceful harmony of teaching and faith.

 

What’s in It?

The content of the Augsburg Confession is clear and concise. The first 21 articles deal with various points of doctrine, while the final seven deal with various abuses in the medieval Roman Church. In the coming weeks, we’ll take up the topics of the Augsburg Confession in order to deepen our knowledge and appreciation for this foundational confession of the Lutheran Church.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

 

“Concord” is a weekly study of the Lutheran Confessions, in which we will take up a topic from the Book of Concord and reflect on what we believe, teach, and confess in the Lutheran Church. The purpose of this series is to deepen readers’ knowledge and appreciation for the confessions of the Lutheran Church, and to unite them “with one heart” to confess the teachings of Holy Scripture.

 

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.

Categories
Higher History

Concord #1: Augsburg Confession (Preface)

The Book of Concord cover
"The Augustana"

Preface

“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 12:8-9 ESV). Man is by nature a spiritual beast. Unlike the other creatures, we contemplate right and wrong, good and bad. We think on spiritual questions. The problem is that our sinful, fallen, corrupted natures cannot by nature comprehend who God is or what He is like or what He wills for us. So we resort to doing what’s right in our own eyes, thinking what’s right in our own minds, and believing what’s right in our own hearts. It makes for as many religions as there are people.

How does anyone come to an agreement on what to believe? Put a bunch of people in a room and ask them agree about something. In business or other civil matters, people can sometimes come to an agreement—perhaps even a win/win solution. But drop a spiritual question and soon you’ll find that everyone has his own opinion and no one wants to budge even an inch. Agreement over spiritual questions, over matters of faith, can never be produced by human endeavor. Concord is not reached by debate or rhetoric or persuasive speech. It can only be received as a gift from God.

So agreement over spiritual matters must be primarily an agreement with what God says. This is what a confession is. To confess means to say the same thing as someone else. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32 NKJV). “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10 ESV).

The confessions of the Lutheran Church are found in the Book of Concord. Concord means, “with one heart.” With one heart, the Lutheran Confessions say the same thing that God says and provide the basis for agreement concerning matters of faith. “We indeed (to repeat in conclusion what we have mentioned several times above) have wished, in this work of concord, in no way to devise what is new, or to depart from the truth of the heavenly doctrine which our ancestors, renowned for their piety, as well as we ourselves, have acknowledged and professed” (Preface to the Christian Book of Concord).

Concord begins with the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the sole source and norm of everything we believe and teach. And we confess with the ancient ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian); the Augsburg Confession and its Apology; the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope; the Small and Large Catechisms; and the Formula of Concord because they say the same thing that God says in Holy Scripture. This is our confession. This is our concord.

You can read the Book of Concord at http://www.bookofconcord.org

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO.