What
Really is a Lutheran?
What really is a Lutheran?
This is a question which has not only perplexed non-Lutherans who have observed
Lutherans in our country and all over the world split into a confusing plethora
of territorial churches and synods; but the question is asked, and very sincerely,
by more and more Lutherans who are distressed over the disunity so apparent
the world over. It is surely a valid question, and vital for millions who studied
and believe Luther's Small Catechism and wish to remain faithful to its teachings
and to their confirmation vow. And it is a question, ironically, which is really
quite simple to answer.
This is a question that
is of importance for Lutheran lay people and anyone else who is interested in
understanding better what, exactly, a Lutheran is.
The answer is simple
because we Lutherans for over 400 years have been guided in our belief and teaching
and preaching by a number of Confessions which are collected together in one
volume called the Book of Concord.
This Book of Concord
contains a quite divergent assortment of creeds and formal confessions which
have one thing in common, a doctrinal unity, a united commitment to the teaching
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this book are the ecumenical creeds, developed
and written from the second to the sixth century, long before the Reformation.
Included also are Luther's Small Catechism and his Large Catechism (1529),which
were not originally intended to be confessions at all in the usual sense, but
were written for children and ordinary adults to summarize the Christian faith
and the way of salvation for them. Perhaps the most important confession included
in our Book of Concord is the Augsburg Confession (1530), written by Philip
Melanchthon and presented on behalf of the Lutheran princes of the day at a
very important meeting with the emperor to testify to the world exactly what
the Protestant churches in their lands taught about the Christian religion and
the Gospel. A year later (1531), Melanchthon wrote a defense of this great confession
called the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, a very lengthy treatise in which
he defends the theology of the Augsburg Confession, especially on such crucial
issues of the Reformation as justification by faith, the importance of good
works, the work of Christ, repentance, and the like.
In 1537, Luther was
asked to write a confession for a church council the pope suggested he might
hold but which never came about. It was written at a little town called Smalcald
and is called the Smalcald Articles. It is a bold and militant document, but
at the same time exhibits Luther's great heart and concern for the Gospel and
for the church, and it wins the reader by its sincerity and conviction. Later
in the same year Melanchthon wrote a short Treatise on the Power and Primacy
of the Pope because Luther had seemingly not said enough about this in his Smalcald
Articles. This too was included in our Book of Concord.
After Luther died in
1546, all kinds of controversies and misunderstandings broke out among the Lutherans
in Germany. After years of debate and monumental attempts at settling the doctrinal
issues the Formula of Concord was written in 1577. This was a joint undertaking
of a great many Lutheran theologians who wanted only to settle the disputes
and remain faithful to their Lutheran heritage. They were eminently successful.
The Formula of Concord was signed by thousands of Lutheran pastors in the German
empire; at a later date the Lutheran Church in Sweden and in Hungary also signed
this document. Now peace (concordia) was established. The Reformation and the
cause of the Gospel went on, uninhibited by doctrinal controversy.
In 1580 all these creeds
and confessions were incorporated into the Book of Concord, which Lutheran pastors
subscribe and pledge themselves today because they are a pure exposition of
the Word of God. Although the Book of Concord contains documents written over
400 years ago, what is taught in these documents is precisely, or ought to be,
what is believed and taught and confessed by every Lutheran pastor, and layman
today.
No collection of books
or statement has so adequately, so accurately, so comfortingly reflected and
exhibited the Biblical Gospel as do the Lutheran Confessions.
Soli Deo gloria:
to God alone the glory!
From:
Getting into The
Theology of Concord by Robert D. Preus
(St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1977), pgs.7-10.
To order a copy of
this book call 800-325-3040
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