“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