Book of Concord Again We Teach
Oftentimes Asked Questions almost the Book of Concord
A poll was taken of over 2,000 Lutheran pastors several years agone, asking them to listing the questions they most frequently are asked about the Lutheran Confessions as contained in the Volume of Agree. Here are the questions, in the order of frequency. Following the questions, answers are provided.
What is the Book of Concord?
The Volume of Concord is a volume published in 1580 that contains the Lutheran Confessions.
What are the Lutheran Confessions?
The Lutheran Confessions are ten statements of faith that Lutherans use as official explanations and summaries of what they believe, teach, and confess. They remain to this day the definitive standard of what Lutheranism is.
What does Concord mean?
Concur ways "harmony." The give-and-take is derived from ii Latin words and is translated literally every bit "with one centre."
What does confession mean?
When used in this context, confession means "to say what you believe." The Lutheran Confessions are statements of faith that Lutherans utilize to say to the globe, "This is what we believe, teach and confess. "
What is in the Book of Concur?
The Book of Concord contains the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology [Defense] of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Hold.
What are the Ecumenical Creeds?
Creed is from the Latin word credere, which ways "to believe." The three creeds in the Book of Agree are the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. They are described as "ecumenical," meaning "universal," because they are accepted by the bulk of Christians worldwide as correct expressions of what God'due south Discussion teaches.
What is the Augsburg Confession and Apology of the Augsburg Confession?
In the yr 1530, the Lutherans were required to present their confession of faith before the Holy Roman Emperor in Augsburg, Frg. The Augsburg Confession was publicly presented on June 25, 1530. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession was written to defend the Augsburg Confession. Amends means "defense force" when used in this style.
What are the Pocket-sized and Large Catechisms?
Martin Luther wrote two handbooks in 1529 to assist families and pastors teach the nuts of the Christian religion. The Small Catechism and the Large Canon are organized around six topics: the 10 Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord'south Prayer, Holy Baptism, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Chantry. The catechisms were so universally accepted that they were included as part of the Book of Concur in 1580.
What are the Smalcald Manufactures and the Treatise on the Ability and Primacy of the Pope?
Martin Luther wrote a set of doctrinal articles in 1536 for an alliance of Lutheran princes and territories, known as the Smalcaldic League. Luther'due south articles were widely respected and were eventually included in the Volume of Concord. At the same meeting that considered Luther'southward articles, Philip Melanchthon was asked to expand on the subject of the Roman papacy and did so in his treatise, which was likewise subsequently included in the Book of Concord.
What are the Image and Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord?
After Luther'southward death in 1546, various controversies arose in the Lutheran Church building in Deutschland. Afterward much debate and struggle, the Formula of Concord was adopted in 1577 by over 8 thousand princes, political rulers, theologians, and pastors, effectively ending the controversy.
Who wrote the Book of Concord?
The ancient creeds in the Book of Concord were prepared past early on church building pastors and theologians. Philip Melanchthon, a layman, was a professor of Greek and theology at the University of Wittenberg. He was importantly responsible for writing the Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope. Martin Luther wrote the Minor and Large Catechisms and the Smalcald Manufactures. A grouping of Lutheran theologians prepared the Formula of Concur. They were Jacob Andreae, Martin Chemnitz, Nicholas Selnecker, David Chytraeus, Andrew Musculus, and Christopher Koerner.
Since we have the Bible, why do nosotros have the Book of Concord?
The Lutheran Confessions are a summary and explanation of the Bible. They are not placed over the Bible. They do not have the place of the Bible. The Volume of Hold is how Lutherans are able to say, together, as a church building, "This is what we believe. This is what we teach. This is what we confess." The reason we have the Book of Concord is because of how highly we value correct teaching and preaching of God'south Word.
A friend of mine says it is incorrect to apply creeds or confessions. How practise I respond?
The Bible itself non just contains numerous confessions and statements of faith past believers, merely information technology also urges us to confess the faith. If a confession is completely in accord with Scripture, we tin hardly claim that the content of the confession is only "man-fabricated" (1 Corinthians 12:ane-iii). 
Are the Lutheran Confessions just for pastors and theologians?
No. They are for all people: pastors, theologians, and laypersons alike. They are important statements of faith. They are not necessarily easy to understand, but they are so important that everyone who is a Lutheran should be aware of what the Book of Concord is and should accept a copy of the Lutheran Confessions. There is an edition of the Volume of Concord prepared specifically for laypeople to read, filled with notes, annotations, illustrations, and many other useful materials to help reading and understanding. Information technology is titled Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concur and is available from Concordia Publishing House. You may order a copy at http://cph.org/concordia or by calling 800-325-3040.
What documents should a layperson read kickoff in the Book of Concord?
The Modest Catechism is chosen "The Layman's Bible" by the Formula of Concord because it does such a proficient task of summarizing the almost of import teachings of the Bible. The Large Catechism would exist the next document to read carefully. The Augsburg Confession is the principal Lutheran Confession and should be read by every layperson. The Smalcald Articles are lively, bold, and powerful and capture readers' interest. The time and attention needed to read the longer documents in the Volume of Agree are well worth the effort since they are filled with such powerfully comforting and instructive biblical truth.
What is a confessional Lutheran?
A confessional Lutheran is a person who uses the documents contained in the Volume of Concord to declare his faith to the world. The contents of the Volume of Hold are cherished by such a person precisely considering they are powerful means by which the correct teachings of Holy Scripture can be taught and shared with other people. The spirit of confessional Lutheranism is reflected well in the concluding words written in the Volume of Concur: "In the sight of God and of all Christendom, nosotros want to evidence to those now living and those who volition come after us. This announcement presented hither about all the controverted articles mentioned and explained above-and no other-is our faith, doctrine, and confession. Past God's grace, with intrepid hearts, we are willing to appear earlier the judgment seat of Christ with this Confession and give an account of it (1 Peter 4:5). Nosotros volition non speak or write anything contrary to this Confession, either publicly or privately. By the strength of God's grace we intend to abide past information technology." (FC SD XII 40).
What is an "unconditional subscription" to the Confessions?
Confessional Lutheran pastors are required to "subscribe," that is, to pledge their understanding unconditionally with the Lutheran Confessions precisely because they are a pure exposition of the Give-and-take of God. This is the way our pastors, and all laypeople who confess belief in the Minor Catechism, are able with bang-up joy and without reservation or qualification to say what it is that they believe to be the truth of God'southward Give-and-take.
Why is an unconditional subscription to the Lutheran Confessions so important?
Authentically Lutheran churches insist on a subscription to the Confessions considering they concord with the Bible, not but in so far every bit they agree with Scripture. Otherwise, at that place would be no objective manner to make sure that there is faithful education and preaching of God'due south Give-and-take. Everything would depend on each pastor's private opinions, subjective interpretations, and personal feelings, rather than on objective truth as gear up forth in the Lutheran Confessions.
Do all Lutheran churches accept the same view of the Volume of Concord?
No. Many Lutheran churches in the world today have been thoroughly influenced by the liberal theology that has taken over nearly and then-chosen "mainline" Protestant denominations in Northward America and the large Protestant state churches in Europe, Scandinavia, and elsewhere. The foundation of much of modern theology is the view that the words of the Bible are non actually God's words just merely human opinions and reflections of the personal feelings of those who wrote the words. Consequently, confessions that merits to be true explanations of God's Word are at present regarded more as historically conditioned human opinions, rather than every bit objective statements of truth. This would explain why some Lutheran churches enter into fellowship arrangements with not-Lutheran churches teaching things in direct disharmonize with the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.
Exercise other churches accept confessions like the Lutheran Church?
Yes, they exercise. Most other churches have confessions scattered throughout various books. The Book of Concord is unique among all churches in the world, since it gathers together the Lutheran Church'southward near normative expressions of the Christian organized religion into a single book that has been used for most five hundred years as a fixed indicate of reference for the Lutheran Church building. Other churches take diverse catechisms and confessions they tin can indicate to, only few take as complete a collection of confessions that has received equally much widespread use and support, for so long a fourth dimension, every bit the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord of 1580.
Summing things up…
To be a Lutheran is to be one who honors the Give-and-take of God. That Word makes it clear that it is God's want for His Church building to be in agreement about doctrine and to be of 1 mind, living at peace with one another (1 Corinthians one:10; 2 Corinthians 13:eleven). It is for that reason that we so treasure the precious confession of Christian truth that we accept in the Book of Agree. For confessional Lutherans, in that location is no other collection of documents, statements, or books that so clearly, accurately, and comfortingly presents the truths of God'southward Word and reveals the biblical Gospel every bit does our Book of Hold. Hand in hand with our commitment to pure educational activity and confession of the organized religion is, and always must exist, an as potent delivery to reaching out boldly with the Gospel and speaking God'due south truth to the globe. That is what confession of the faith is all about, in the final assay. Indeed, "Since we have the same spirit of organized religion according to what has been written, 'I believed, and and so I spoke,' we also believe, and so we too speak" (ii Corinthians 4:13). This is what it means to be, and to remain, a genuine confessional Lutheran.
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Source: https://lutheranreformation.org/theology/the-lutheran-confessions/book-of-concord-faqs/
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