The Book of Concord–Part 6: The Augsburg Confession by Vicar Trevor Flanick
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”—Matthew 10:16–18 ESV
Christ’s words in Matthew to the Apostles are as true today as they were when first spoken. However, on June 25, 1530, it was the Lutheran reformers who were making the good confession before the temporal rulers: Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. On that summer day, they defended their teachings on the foundation of the clear revelation of Scripture, appealing to God’s Word as the basis for refusing to obey the demands of the Roman Catholic Church. This was the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, the first official document that codified Biblical theology borne out of the Reformation movement and declared publicly the Lutheran reformers’ beliefs.
While it is not the oldest of the Lutheran Confessions after three Creeds (Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms were published in 1529), the Augsburg Confession is presented first in the Book of Concord because of its primacy as the founding document of Lutheran doctrine. It was more than just a personal document of Martin Luther or someone else. Rather, it communicated the confession of numerous pastors, churches, elected leaders, and theologians, united together in their beliefs. The work of writing and editing the Augsburg Confession was primarily accomplished by Philip Melanchthon but bore the underpinnings of Luther’s work and the support of all those who endorsed it.
It’s important to understand that much of Western Europe, as we know it today, was united at that time, both religiously and politically. The Holy Roman Empire—which consisted of modern Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France and Italy—was officially a Roman Catholic state. It was assumed that political peace hinged on unity of faith. As such, the lines between the authority of the state and the church were blurred or even mixed. While people spoke various languages and dialects based on region, the language of the Church was Latin, whether it was understood by the laypeople or not.
Over the centuries, this resulted in not only ignorance of Christian doctrine but abuses by the Roman Church as it focused more on political power and influence rather than proclaiming the clear Gospel of Christ crucified. When Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church door in 1517, it was clear to him that serious change was necessary.
Luther, with others, dug into Biblical texts in the original Greek and Hebrew (rather than the approved Latin) in an effort to understand the truth of God’s Word and reconcile what they read with what the Catholic Church taught. This effort would later also include translating both the Liturgy and the Scriptures into German to make them accessible for the common Christian. In identifying un-Biblical teachings of the day, Luther sought to correct these errors, writing, teaching, and preaching on God’s grace and forgiveness through faith rather than works and indulgences. With the publication of the 95 Theses in 1517, the monk of Saxony appeared on the Pope’s radar. After being commanded to recant his writings and subjected to numerous questionings by Papal authorities, Luther was excommunicated in 1521. He continually appealed to the authority of Scripture over what the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church demanded. At the Diet of Worms later that year, before the Emperor, Luther famously stated, “I cannot and will not recant. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand. God help me. Amen.” From that meeting, Luther was a heretic and an enemy of both the state and the church.
Why does all this matter? In spite of the threat to life by both government and the Papacy, Luther and his colleagues’ teachings spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Clergy and laity alike were convinced of the truth of this reclaimed doctrine and its adherence to God’s Word. This included not only the local rulers in Luther’s home electorate of Saxony, such as Frederick the Wise and John the Steadfast, but princes throughout Germany joined the Reformation. In 1526, at an Imperial meeting in Speyer, Germany, Lutheran princes banded together in a resolution that gave each ruler the authority to arrange religious matters within their particular district. This was intended to be a compromise until a Church Council convened to make determinations on the disputed issues. However, three years later, the 1529 Diet at Speyer reversed this decision with votes from Papal loyalist princes. The rulers who held a Lutheran confession (or other Reformation confession) vehemently protested this move, leading to the term “Protestant.”
The religious division of the past decade was wearing on the Empire at this point. Not only was the Reformation causing people to realize how far the Roman Catholic Church had departed from Scripture, but other sects like the Anabaptists emerged in addition to Lutheranism. Luther and his followers had not intended to “break up” the church but rather to return it to proper Biblical doctrine. But since Rome had no intention of changing, the Lutherans had to remain divorced from their Catholic neighbors. The religious unity of the Holy Roman Empire was no more, despite efforts to enforce Catholicism and repress Lutheran teachings. In addition, Charles V was forced to deal with several wars that strained his empire, including the Peasant’s Rebellion, the Italian Wars, and the increased incursions by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. With the Turks literally knocking at the Empire’s door, the emperor could not afford to have a fractured kingdom while Islam was seeking to overthrow Christendom. In his mind, Romanism was the proper religion and needed to be restored in all territories by whatever persuasion or threats was necessary. Charles V ordered all rulers in his domain to meet at Augsburg to settle the religious disputes once and for all. Next week, we will explore how the Reformers drafted the Augsburg Confession to prepare for this Diet.