The Augsburg Confession

by Philipp Melanchthon

The Augsburg Confession is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Lutheran Reformation. The Augsburg Confession was written in both German and Latin and was presented by a number of German rulers and free-cities at the Diet of Augsburg on 25 June 1530. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had called on the Princes and Free Territories in Germany to explain their religious convictions in an attempt to restore religious and political unity in the Holy Roman Empire and rally support against the Turkish invasion. It is the fourth document contained in the Lutheran Book of Concord.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Church History, Philosophy

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1530

About the author

Philipp Melanchthon (16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560), born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems. He stands next to Luther and Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. Along with Luther, he is the primary founder of Lutheranism.[1] They both denounced what they believed was the exaggerated cult of the saints, asserted justification by faith, and denounced the coercion of the conscience in the sacrament of penance by the Catholic Church, that they believed could not offer certainty of salvation. Melanchthon made the distinction between law and gospel the central formula for Lutheran evangelical insight. By the "law", he meant God's requirements both in Old and New Testament; the "gospel" meant the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Reviews

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[Dominic Muresan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art. 28 - "But if they make no concession, it is for them to see how they shall give account to God for having, by their obstinancy, caused a schism."

These guys were really angry - and its totally understandable. The abuses of the Medieval Church, the sheer 'unbiblicality' of many of those, here so clearly refuted. It makes you wonder, how conservative could the church have been in the 16th century to treat such clear, biblical, patristically backed positions as heresies, deemed to be burned, and their teachers deemed to be killed. It's also a clear warning for us: Conservatorism can kill.

[Maya Joelle]

I had read this before, but read again in full (with sections of the Apology) for a history class.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone name all their sons after signers yet?


————my hilarious Pre Seminary hot take below——-
Important and well written explanation with great and easy to understand metaphors. However in historical context this threw a lot of people under the bus and in a way got a lot of people killed.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful for understanding the Reformation.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Augsburg Confession is one of the founding documents of Protestantism, directly leading to the Edict of Worms and the formal excommunication of Luther and his compatriots. The Confessio Augustana, written by Philipp Melanchthon in New Latin and in Early New High German, was composed by Melanchthon on behalf of the entire Wittenberg Reformation as a polemic against not only Emperor Charles V’s Catholicism, but also other Protestant movements, particularly the Anabaptists and the “enemy of the sacraments” (the Zwinglians). Later editions attempted to include the Zwinglian version of Reformed teachings. Zwingli penned his own version at the exact same time, called the Confessio Tetrapolitana.

This confession was refuted by the emperor in June of 1530 in the Confutio Augustana, the Augsburg Refutation. Melanchthons’ Apologia Confessionis Augustanae was in answer to this document, which Melanchthon completed in 1531. The Roman church agreed with the bulk of the articles (Articles 1-3, 5, 8-14, 16-18 and 20), pointing out that the Wittenberg Reformation was deliberately misrepresenting Catholic teachings. Still, the Confutatio condemned the simplistic dichotomy of Faith and Works, and argued that is was based on an over-emphasis on Paul's letters excluding books such as the Book of James, which Martin Luther believed was "inspired by the Devil".

This Theological document was signed not by church leaders, but political leaders, illustrating the Political and Economic interests underlying the Reformation, including the Duke of Saxony, Philip of Hesse (who favored the Reformation because he could marry multiple wives according to Luther), and Ernest the Duke of Luneburg.

This confession was critical for the Religious Wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. The military alliance of the Protestants, the Schmalkaldic League, made the Confessio Augustana the basis of its confederation. After only a few years of violent warfare, the Schmalkaldic League was finally defeated at the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, although the following century would see a bloodbath of violence between the Reformed and the Catholics, and between Protestant factions, which existed since the very beginning. Even within this Confession, you see the forceful polemics against other types of Protestantism. Melanchthon was personally involved in the imprisonment of Anabaptists, as was Luther, although Zwingli was personally involved in executing them by drowning them in the Zurich River. These are the "men of God" venerated by the Reformed tradition. Melanchthon was one of the most passive, but still advocated for violently confrunting the theological enemies of the Wittenberg Reformation, even against other forms of Reformed Theology.

The Confession deals with a vast number of topics, including intra-Protestant debates. In the Loci Communes, the first Protestant Systematic Theology created by Melanchthon, he notes:

Now the Anabaptists, with similar fury, invent new opinions and new rites. The doctrine of the Church is therefore necessary in this fourth degree.

Exactly which rites should be kept, and which should be disgarded has never been solved within Protestantism. The Antinomianism, Anabaptists and Adiaphora debates are touched upon in this Confession and many following confessions, but even between Luther and Melanchthon, there was disagreement. This is a deeply Augustinian work, and the Medieval-Aristotelian reading of Augustine’s Original Sin is the foundation of the entire confession. It is a flawless example of a Humanistic text, pulling in a wide range of sources including ancient pagan philosophers, something Melanchthon was uniquely educated on at the time.
Antinomianism was a constant debate among the Wittenberg circles between Melanchthon, Johannes Agricola and others, which was put to bed by Luther's 1539 essay on the subject. After both men died, the debate raged again. In Calvinist circles, the debate was dealt with earlier, but continued to be resurrected throughout the centuries. Melanchthon argued that repentance considering the moral law must come before faith and enshrined this two-part definition of repentance within the Augsburg Confession. The Adiaphoric statement used broadly "In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity" attempts to dismiss these debates, which is a red herring since it is precisely the definition of these words that are debated. Since the earliest days, there has never been any kind of unity among followers of “bible-alone” Christianity. All hope of maintaining the Four Marks of the Church within Protestantism died by the end of Melanchthon's life, something he was deeply troubled by. His hope, as he writes in the Loci Communes, was to provide a basis for Protestantism to maintain a coherent set of doctrines through a reliance on the Bible, and the Augsburg Confession was the distillation of that hope.

The Complete Works of Philipp Melanchthon
Loci Communes: https://bit.ly/3hCsUb2
Commentary on Romans and other Minor works: https://bit.ly/3X7Po42
Enchidirion and Instructions to the Visitors: https://bit.ly/3tvfdgx
The Augsburg Confession & Apology: https://bit.ly/3hAS89Q
The History and Life Stories of the Venerable Dr. Martin Luther: https://bit.ly/3G7icn6

[Wiktor Wyszatycki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda secundum Verbum Dei

Po rocznych poszukiwaniach znalazłem w jakiejś Śląskiej bibliotece online...



Reread

[Mathias · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Augsburg confession, I.e. the message of the reformation from where the present day "evangelical lutheran" movement claims heritage (which is questionable in my opinion)
Could be boiled down to the psychological reality of anxiety and its relation to social context
So human emotional pain is caused by real, threatening or percieved expulsion from the collective
This is the main truth of the bible, and this experience is by the reformers called "anfechtung"
The message of the bible Is that the spirit of the collective (constituting more than 4 people) is equated with the snake dragon, the devil and the satan
Standing in violent opposition to the authentic individual, the homeric hero, the messianic prophet
The Christian "evangelion", the message of the bible
Is that the anfechtung, which in itself, experienced by natural man propels nihilism and is the root cause of neurosis and mental illness,
The prime exemple being the ancient roman crucifixion, which modern Christian religion still uses as its symbol
This anfechtung is in fact a precious gift of grace,
Because according to evangelion it conquers death, leading to resurrection and efternal life

Modern Christian religion is very much driven by the spirit of the collective, thus wasting the talents of modern man in service of falsehood and romantic illusion bindning the collective together, passively expelling autenticity through collective neurosis, echoing Platos expulsion of the poet from the state

[Henry Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct, persuasive, and unassuming expounding of the Lutheran faith: that we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, and that there is no work that can merit our salvation, no hierarchy of holiness among men, no necessity of pilgrimages and icons and holy days and confession boxes etcetera. This is, as one of my pastors once said, the 200 proof faith, the true faith in Christ that He has saved us unconditionally, as an utterly free gift out of His neverending love.

Is that not the most wonderful truth? That God Himself has given to us, though we did not deserve it, eternal life with Him? That He has come to earth as a man to live like us and with us, and then died on the Cross to pay for all our sins?

[wyclif · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Augsburg Confession, the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church, is also one of the foundational documents of the Protestant Reformation. As such, it serves as an unofficial confessional baseline for those of us in other branches of the Church that sprung from the Reformation. It was a tremendous influence on the composition of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England in 1563, and are therefore deserving of a proper study and appreciation outside of the context of Lutheranism.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ausburg confession of faith is the Lutheran confession of faith. Phillip Melanchthon drafted it and it was later signed by Martin Luther. It is separated into 28 articles - 21 affirming articles and 7 denying articles. Focused on affirming truths about God, His son, Original sin and others. As well as denying things like the mass, monasticism, enforced celibacy, etc.

[Elijah McArthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential piece of Protestant/Evangelical history and a beautiful confession of faith. A true must read for any Christian to be cherished and confessed

[Miles Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The earliest Lutheran confession of Melanchthon and the princes is still perhaps the greatest single Protestant confession.

[Zak Glade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pithy, rigorous, and frankly irrefutable.

[Ty Brunet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great confession language and summaries. There are areas of departure from the reformed church.

[T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Amazing. Historically useful too!

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct and useful summary of reformational concerns, by one of the most underrated reformers of all time, Philipp Melanchthon.

[Evan Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

based based based based based based

[Otto Lehto · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important historical document: the principles of the Reformation argued against 1500 years of accrued Catholic dogma and "human habits" that, according to Luther and Melancthon, obfuscate the Christian FAITH - as opposed to habits, dogma and good works - that stands, according to the Protestants, at the very heart of Christianity.

[Amy Skillen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not nearly as heavy or hard as I thought it would be.

[Chris Whisonant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Confession of Faith at the heart of the Reformation. Go find it and read it if you haven't.

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

[Josué Roque · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short (and long) summary of our faith.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent and readable overview of 16th century theology.