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A Look at the Augsburg Confession, Introduction

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

Normally I post my articles on Friday. However, due to ISP problems I was unable to post in a timely fashion. Please accept my apologies for the tardiness of this article. I should be back on schedule this week.

The last two weeks we looked at the city and the diet that gave us the Augsburg Confession, also known as Augustana. This week we begin a look at the confession itself as we look at the document as a whole. The coming weeks this forum will study the doctrines in Augustana and how they relate to the Lutheran church today. After the Augsburg Confession is studied we will study the remaining confessions in the Book of Concord which comprise the Lutheran stand on Scripture and doctrine and which every Lutheran pastor vows to uphold, to "believe, teach, and confess."

Last week we saw Luther remain behind at Coburg at the fortress Ebernburg. As a declared heretic, Luther's safety was not guaranteed in the imperial city of Augsburg. Elector John took Melanchthon and the other Reforming theologians with him to Augsburg.

Not that Luther was a non-entity at Augsburg or in the crafting of the confession. Messengers were frequently sent back and forth asking Luther's advice and delivering Luther's input. This diet was also called largely because of the reform movement Luther inadvertently started with the nailing of the 95 Theses.

But in God's providence Luther was away from the action. Luther tended to be direct and somewhat confrontational in his approach. The emperor called this diet to seek consensus and hopefully unity in his "empire." Melanchthon proved to be the better wordsmith to craft the Lutheran doctrines, teachings, and beliefs in a non-polemical manner.

In the end it didn't matter who wrote the Augustana. There were elements that would refuse to accede to the other side’s point of view. There is also the matter of conscience and whether one can go against one's conscience in matters of faith. For Scripture cannot be compromised. If one does not take a stand on Scripture, what can a person take a stand on?

When we read the Augustana, we see that the Lutherans do not only state what they do believe, but they also state what they don’t believe. Once the Lutherans arrived in Augsburg, they discovered Dr. Eck had his 404 Propositions. This document linked Lutherans with Zwingli, Oecoloampius, Carlstadt, Pirkheimer, Hubmaier, and Denk. The Lutherans were also charged with every heresy imaginable. The Lutheran position and answer soon shifted to confront Eck’s charges head on.

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