The Augsburg Confession: A Brief Review and Interpretation by Juergen Ludwig Neve

“The main stress in the book… is upon the interpretation of its text… It is prefaced by a chapter with simple talks on confessional questions… The second part… tell(s) the story of the Confession in a readable way.. The third part, with its interpretation of the articles of the Confession, forms the main part of this book… the effort has been made to write in such a way that a layman… can follow the discussions.” -from the Preface by J L Neve.

Level of Difficulty: Primer: No prior subject matter knowledge needed.

Contents

• About the Lutheran Library
• Titlepage
• Preface
• Contents

Part One (Introduction): Simple Talks on Confessional Questions

• 1 Can we think of a church without a creed?
• 2 What would be the dangers of a church without a creed?
• 3 When only can out Confessions offer us a safeguard against errors?
• 4 What is the relation of the Confessions to the Scriptures?
• 5 Is our Lutheran Church right in making the Augsburg Confession, which was written int he sixteenth century, the guide for men who live in the twentieth century?
• 6 How do the Confessions appear when we consider the causes which brought them into existence and the conditions which led to their adoption?
• 7 Does the appreciation and the study of creeds interfere with a truly religious life of individuals and churches?
• 8 How will the knowledge of and the adherence to the principles of a creed aid a preacher and a teacher of the Christian religion?
• 9 Why is the Apostles’ Creed not enough?
• 10 Why is Luther’s Small Catechism not enough?
• 11 What is the Form of Concord, and what should be our attitude towards it?

Part Two: The Story of the Augsburg Confession

• 1 Growth of the cause of the Reformation
• 2 The situation becomes critical
• 3 But once more the arm of the Emporor was checked. The Augsburg Diet is called
• 4 Two important colloquies, (a) The Schwabach Articles, (b) The Marburg Articles
• 5 Melanchthon’s work of writing the Confession
• 6 The arrival of the Emperor
• 7 The opening of the Diet
• 8 The situation
• 9 The delivery of the Confession
• 10 Defending the Confession
• 11 A brief review of the history of the texts of the Augsburg Confession
• 12 A few remarks on the history of the significance of the Augsburg Confession

Part Three: An Interpretation of the Articles of the Augsburg Confession

• Preface to the Emperor Charles V

• I Chief Articles of Faith

• I Of God

• II Of Original Sin

• III Of the Son of God

• IV Of Justification

• V Of the Ministry of the Church

• VI Of New Obedience

• VII Of the Church

• VIII What the Church is

• IX Of Baptism

• X Of the Lord’s Supper

• XI Of Confession

• XII Of Repentance

• XIII Of the Use of the Sacraments

• XIV Of Ecclesiastical Orders

• XV Of Ecclesiastical Rites

• XVI Of Civil Matters

• XVII Of the Return of Christ to Judgment

• XVIII Of Free Will

• XIX Of the Cause of Sin

• XX Of Faith and Good Works

• XXI Of the Worship of Saints

• Conclusion to the Articles of Faith

• II Articles in Which are Enumerated the Abuses Corrected

• XXII Of Both Kinds

• XXIII Of the Marriage of Priests

• XXIV Of the Mass

• XXV Of Confession

• XXVI Of the Distinction of Meats and Traditions

• XXVII Of Monastic Vows

• XXVIII Of Ecclesiastical Power

• Epilogue

Publication Information

• Lutheran Library edition first published: 2024
• Copyright: CC BY 4.0