The Book of Concord: The Lutheran Confessions of 1529-1580
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Table of Contents
The Augsburg Confession is the first of the great Protestant
Confessions. All orthodox Lutheran church bodies base their teachings
upon this treatise because they believe that it is a faithful to Word
of God.
In 1530, Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, called together
the princes and cities of his german territories in a Diet at Augsburg.
He sought unity among them to fend of the attacks of Turkish armies in
Eastern Austria. He called upon the Lutheran nobility to explain their
religious convictions, with the hope that the controversy swirling around
the challange of the Reformation might be resolved. To this end, Philip
Melanchthon, a close friend of Martin Luther and a Professor of New
Testament at Wittenberg University, was called upon to draft a common
confession for the Lutheran Lords and Free Territories. The resulting
document, the Augsburg Confession was presented to the emperor on June
25, 1530.
The confession was presented to Charles V in both Latin and German.
Minor differences between the two texts exist. Some editions published
today print english translations from both. Our texts come from an
edition published in 1930s by the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod,
under the title: Concordia Triglotta.
- Appendix: Catalog of Testimonies...(1580)
...by Jakob Andreae, 1528-1590 and Martin Chemnitz, 1522-1586. Translated
by Gerhard F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau.
- To the Christian Reader
- Scripture, Eusebius, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Theodoret, Damascenus.
- Athanasius, Basil the Great, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Cyril, Theodoret, Leo, Vigilus, Nicephorus.
- Eustachius, Athanasius, Hilary, Eusebius of Eurissa, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, Epiphanius, Ambrose, Augustine, Crysostom, Theophylact, Cyril, Theodoret,
Leo, Damascenus, Nicephorus.
- Hillary, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, Epiphanius, Cyril, Augustine, Thodoret, Damascenus.
- Cyril, Epiphanius, Augustine, Council of Ephesus, Theophylact, Damascenus.
- Athanasius, Cyril.
- Athanasius, Theophylact, Cyril, Theodoret, Damascenus.
- Origen, Augustine.
- Theophylact, Leo.
- Theophylact, Chrysostum, (conclusion).
- An Informal Table of Links From Scripture and Names to various sections in the
Catalogue.
Additional versions of the Augsburg Confession on line:
In Reference To The Matters Presented To His Imperial Majesty
By The Elector Of Saxony And Some Princes And States Of The
Holy Roman Empire, On The Subject And Concerning Causes
Pertaining To The Christian Orthodox Faith, The Following
Christian Reply Can Be Given. August 3, 1530. Edited by
J.M. Reu. Published in The Augsburg Confession, A
Collection of Sources . (Fort Wayne, IN: Concordia
Theological Seminary Press), pp. 349-383.
The Large Catechism, by Martin Luther. Translated by F. Bente and W.H.T.
Dan. Published in: Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev.
Lutheran Church . (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921).
Introductory:
Part First:
Part Second:
Part Third:
Part Fourth:
Part Fifth:
In English (Smith Translation of 1994):
In French:
In Swedish:
- Introduction and Part.1: Concerning the Divine Majesty
- Part 2: Articles which Refer to the Office and Work of Jesus Christ,
or Our Redemption.
- Part 3: "Concerning the following articles we may [will be able
to] treat with learned and reasonable men, or among ourselves..."
- Luther.
"Of the Power and Primacy of the Pope. Treatise Compiled by the Theologians Assembled at
Smalcald, in the Year 1537."
In addition to basic text comprising The Book of Concord, bookofconcord.org provides historical introductions, a list resources for further study and a search utility.
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Reverend Bob Smith
smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu
Ft. Wayne, Indiana
This document results from a cooperative effort between Project
Wittenberg and ICLnet , Reverend Bob Smith, Project
Coordinator. Document revised, 2005:Mar.02