Augsburg Confession

General Information

The Augsburg Confession is a Lutheran Confession of Faith that was issued (1530) during the Reformation at the Diet of Augsburg. In 1530, Emperor Charles V convoked the diet as part of his effort to bring religious peace to Europe. He failed in his efforts, however, because he underestimated the fervor with which the followers of Martin Luther had already formulated a distinctive position. Philipp Melanchthon, one of the authors of the Confession, designed it to be relatively open to the Roman Catholic church on the right and to other reformed but non-Lutheran parties on the left. It affirmed inherited classic Christian doctrines. Its particular stress on Grace, as Luther had interpreted it in the writings of St. Paul, and its rejection of any righteousness based on human works and merits made it unacceptable to many other Western Christians. The Confession remains the primary statement of faith among Lutherans, who to this day expect their ministers at ordination to express fidelity to the way it interprets the biblical teachings.

Martin E. Marty

Bibliography
Grane, Leif, ed., The Augsburg Confession: A Commentary, trans. by John H. Rasmussen (1987).

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Augsburg Confession

General Information

The Augsburg Confession (1530) is the most widely accepted specifically Lutheran confession, or statement of faith. It was prepared by the German religious reformer Melanchthon, with Martin Luther's approval, as a summary document for the German nobility, who were called to a diet at Augsburg on June 25, 1530, by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V to present their "Lutheran" views.

Rejected there, and later amended, the confession - together with the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds and Luther's Small Catechism and Large Catechism - constitutes the creedal basis for almost 80 million Lutheran Christians. The Augsburg Confession has been translated into most major languages and many dialects and in its original form is part of the constitution of most Lutheran churches. Lutheran clergy are frequently required to subscribe to it prior to ordination.

In its modern form the Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles. The first 21 summarize Lutheran doctrine with special emphasis on justification. The second part of the Augsburg Confession reviews the "abuses" for which remedy was demanded, such as withholding the cup from the laity in Holy Communion and forbidding priests to marry.

Because of its conciliatory tone and brevity, the Augsburg Confession affected the entire Reformation movement, especially in such manifestations as the Anglican Thirty-nine Articles and the theology of the French religious reformer John Calvin, who signed a later version in 1540. In more recent times it has been the basis of fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Roman Catholics and Lutherans.

George Wolfgang Forell

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Augsburg Confession

Advanced Information

(1530)

The Augsburg Confession is the basic Lutheran confession of faith or statement of what is believed in loyalty to Christ and his Word. It was presented at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. Philip Melanchthon was its author, but its teachings are clearly those of Martin Luther.

Charles V called a diet, or convention, of the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire to meet in Augsburg in 1530. The emperor was staunchly Roman Catholic and wanted the empire to be loyal to Romanism. He directed those rulers supporting different teachings to present statements of what they believed. Charles wanted religious unity so that the empire could present a united front against foreign enemies, especially the Turks.

Lutheran theologians drafted various preliminary documents, including the Marburg, Schwabach, and Torgau Articles. Luther had a hand in their preparation, but he could not attend the diet. He had been outlawed by the Edict of Worms (1521), and the Elector of Saxony could not protect him at Augsburg. Since he had been declared a heretic, his presence would have shifted the focus away from doctrinal issues. His martyrdom would have served no purpose. Luther remained at the Coburg but was in constant correspondence with those in Augsburg.

Luther's co-worker, Philip Melanchthon, produced the final draft of the Augsburg Confession. At that time he was in doctrinal agreement with Luther, who approved of the confession wholeheartedly. Luther did note that it might have dealt with a few more errors and abuses, and that he would not have used such a mild tone. The doctrine of the confession is clearly that of the Reformer himself.

The Augsburg Confession was read publicly at the diet in German on the afternoon of June 25, 1530, by Chancellor Christian Beyer of Electoral Saxony. Both the German and the Latin copies were handed in as official. Melanchton altered later editions, partly to render it ambiguous on points such as the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper. He was inclined to compromise on doctrinal issues. That is why Gnesio-Lutherans have often referred to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. The Augsburg Confession was included in the Book of Concord (1580) as the basic Lutheran confession.

The Augsburg Confession was signed by seven princes and representatives of two independent cities. They believed that the doctrine it taught was biblical and true. They were the ones to sign it because the diet was precisely a convention of the rulers of the empire. But the confession was not intended to present the teachings of some governmental authority. It stated what was being taught in the churches in those parts of Germany. The first article begins: "The churches among us teach with great consensus..."(Latin text).

In addition to a preface and a brief conclusion the Augsburg Confession has twenty-eight articles. The first twenty-one present the Lutheran teaching and reject contrary doctrines. The last seven reject abuses in Christian life. The confession is too brief fully to present the biblical proof or the testimony of previous theologians. In response to a Roman Catholic answer, the Confutation, Melanchthon published in 1531 the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, which deals with the controverted issues at greater length.

To discuss the teachings of the Augsburg Confession at length would constitute a theology textbook. We can at best give some idea of what it says. It teaches the Trinity; original sin as true sin that would condemn if not forgiven; the deity and humanity of Jesus; his sacrifice for all human sin; justification by grace through faith without our works; the gospel, baptism, and the Lord's Supper as actual tools of the Holy Spirit to create and sustain faith; good works as a result, not a cause, of salvation, motivated by the good news that salvation has been earned for us by Christ. Much more could be said, but this indicates that the Augsburg Confession simply teaches the position which Lutherans consider biblical.

The abuses corrected include various false ideas and practices in the Lord's Supper; clerical celibacy; the misuse of confession and absolution; the dietary laws of medieval Romanism; and the idea of a hierarchy in visible Christendom having divine authority in matters of conscience.

J M Drickamer
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)

Bibliography
F. Bente, Historical Introduction to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; H. Fagerberg, A New Look at the Lutheran Confessions 1529-1537; C. P. Krauth, The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology; J. M. Reu, The Augsburg Confession. The text is available in English in Concordia Triglotta, ed. F. Bente, and The Book of Concord, ed. T. G. Tappert.

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Augsburg Confession

Outline

The Confession of Faith: Which Was Submitted to His Imperial Majesty Charles V At the Diet of Augsburg in the Year 1530 by Philip Melancthon

Article 1 - Of God

Article 2 - Of Original Sin

Article 3 - Of the Son of God

Article 4 - Of Justification

Article 5 - Of the Ministry

Article 6 - Of New Obedience

Article 7 - Of the Church

Article 8 - What the Church Is

Article 9 - Of Baptism

Article 10 - Of the Lord's Supper

Article 11 - Of Confession

Article 12 - Of Repentance

Article 13 - Of the Use of the Sacraments

Article 14 - Of Ecclesiastical Order

Article 15 - Of Ecclesiastical Usages

Article 16 - Of Civil Affairs

Article 17 - Of Christ's Return to Judgment

Article 18 - Of Free Will

Article 19 - Of the Cause of Sin

Article 20 - Of Good Works

Article 21 - Of the Worship of the Saints

Article 22 - Of Both Kinds in the Sacrament

Article 23 - Of the Marriage of Priests

Article 24 - Of the Mass

Article 25 - Of Confession

Article 26 - Of the Distinction of Meats

Article 27 - Of Monastic Vows

Article 28 - Of Ecclesiastical Power

Article 29 - Conclusion

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The Augsburg Confession

Article 1 - Of God

Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term "person" they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.

They condemn all heresies which have sprung up against this article, as the Manichaeans, who assumed two principles, one Good and the other Evil- also the Valentinians, Arians, Eunomians, Mohammedans, and all such. They condemn also the Samosatenes, old and new, who, contending that there is but one Person, sophistically and impiously argue that the Word and the Holy Ghost are not distinct Persons, but that "Word" signifies a spoken word, and "Spirit" signifies motion created in things.

With kind permision: Believe