Wednesday, October 15, 2008
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION
The Augsburg Confession is probably the most familiar and most widely used of all the particular confessions of the Lutheran Church. It can be found printed in the front of many Lutheran hymnals along with the three creeds and Luther's Small Catechism. It is not very long (not much longer than Luther's Small Catechism) and contains 28 separate articles which set forth statements of faith concerning God; Man; Jesus; Salvation; the Church; the Means of Grace; the Public Ministry; Church Orders and Customs; Civil Affairs; and more.
The Augsburg Confession was developed in two distinct parts. The first 21 articles were formed as a confession of what the Lutherans believed. It demonstrated how the Lutherans were different from many of these other groups, such as the Anabaptists and the Novatians; it showed that their teachings were in harmony with the ancient church; and it condemned the spiritual corruption in the Roman Church. These first 21 articles of the Augsburg confession were written by Melanchthon at Augsburg, but were based on articles previously prepared by Luther.
The second part of the Augsburg Confession dealt with matters specifically related to ceremonies and institutions. The final seven articles dealt with abuses in the Roman Church which had been corrected in the Lutheran churches, such as withholding the cup from the laity in the Lord's Supper, celibacy, the sacrifice of the mass, confession, ceremonial feasts and fasting, monastic vows, and the secular power of bishops.
The statements of faith found in the Augsburg Confession are of great value to us in that they remind us from where we have come. They demonstrate the work of the LORD who preserved His Church on earth and the truth of His Word against the intrusion of false teaching and error. Also, like the creeds of the early church, the statements of faith in this document can serve as a short summary of our faith in some of the basic teachings of Scripture.
