tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190715317123789162008-09-04T17:15:14.911-07:00An ongoing study of the Book of ConcordPaul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-48197891083682740482008-08-31T10:39:00.000-07:002008-09-02T02:51:40.830-07:00

The third part of the Smalcald Articles begins, in light the circumstances, with a rather droll assertion: "We may be able to discuss the following articles with learned and reasonable people, or among ourselves. The pope and his government do not care much about these. With them conscience is nothing, but money, honors, and power are everything." The picture here, by the way, is the Council of

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-18074233162768896652008-08-16T07:13:00.000-07:002008-09-02T02:51:08.575-07:00

This is a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens. Dr. Martens is the pastor of St. Mary's Lutheran Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf, a member congregation of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany. You can read more about Pastor Martens' ministry in Berlin, in an article that appears in the seminary magazine For the Life of the World. This sermon was translated by Pastor Peter A.

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-58741960818154304532008-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:002008-07-28T04:41:31.631-07:00

The most vigorous rejection of the office of the papacy in the Book of Concord is found in this portion of the Smalcald Articles. Luther asserts that the Papacy is the Antichrist. This is a statement that shocks most modern Christian ears, striking many as an outrageous excess of rhetoric. Confessional Lutherans must be sensitive to the degree to which this assertion in our Book of Concord is

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-29185853687345212522008-06-08T06:24:00.000-07:002008-06-08T07:32:37.130-07:00

We tend to forget that Martin Luther spent many years as a monk, in the Augustinian cloister in Erfurt, Germany. He had his choice of several different orders he could have joined, but elected to join the "Black Friars," an order known for its particularly stringent ascetic practices. Leaving behind a promising career in the law, he entered the walls of the monastery on July 17, 1505. It was only

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-3546116653544706012008-05-25T05:43:00.000-07:002008-05-25T06:15:21.046-07:00

"The Mass in the papacy has to be the greatest and most horrible abomination, since it directly and powerfully conflicts with the chief article." Thus Luther launches into perhaps the second most important portion of the Smalcald Articles. For it is precisely in the way Rome regards the service of the Lord's Supper that one finds the most dramatic example of Roman Catholicism's misunderstanding

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-36757524641130222882008-05-11T05:26:00.001-07:002008-05-11T06:55:37.038-07:00

It is appropriate that we have come the point in our conversation about the Book of Concord that we are treating in this post the very heart of the Book of Concord: a bold confession of the chief article: the Gospel. And we do so on Pentecost Sunday, May 11, 2008, most appropriately indeed! Has the Gospel become cliche? The dictionary defines "cliche" as "something that has become overly

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-52355046875370083732008-03-30T14:16:00.000-07:002008-03-30T18:04:56.468-07:00

"The Awe-Inspiring Articles on the Divine Majesty" is how the first part of the Smalcald Articles is described. Repeated here are the historic creedal formulas that confess the Holy Trinity, and the two natures in Christ. Luther saw no point in spending any time discussing these truths, since "both sides confess them" and concerning these articles "there is no argument or dispute." To this day,

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-60729159438722909312008-01-27T15:24:00.001-08:002008-01-27T16:35:09.139-08:00

"I have decided to publish these articles in plain print in case I should die before there would be a council (as I fully expect and hope)." (SA Preface, 3; Concordia, p. 259). This is the assumption of Martin Luther as he composed what we know today as the Smalcald Articles. His prince, Johann Frederick the Magnanimous, asked Luther to put together this statement of "non-negotiables" that the

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-30798752063548588532008-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:002008-01-13T17:18:29.178-08:00

We have come to the conclusion of our roundtable discussions about the Augsburg Confession and will now turn our attention to the Smalcald Articles. You may read them on-line at bookofconcord.org. The purpose of this post is to offer an introduction to the historical context of the Smalcald Articles; in words and pictures, providing a brief overview of the events that led to the writing of these

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-60892522244467971022008-01-06T08:53:00.000-08:002008-01-06T10:40:31.355-08:00

A dispute arose among the Apostles, on more than one occasion, over the question of power, authority and rights. The desire for power and control is an ancient evil temptation that plagues humanity; and so, it should come as no surprise that it also has been an ongoing subject of concern, debate, discussion and intense disagreement in the Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 20, says, "It

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-50078618001147925822008-01-03T16:40:00.000-08:002008-01-03T17:29:36.156-08:00

A very blessed and holy Christmastide to you all, and a happy New Year in our Lord. You will notice a new header for our blog site, provided by "Orthodoxy Hunter." She did a really great job, incorporating elements from the Concordia edition of the Book of Concord, with some sharp graphics I sent her way, including on the left, a picture of the title page of the first edition of the Book of

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-56667870418314694692007-11-11T12:07:00.000-08:002007-11-11T13:07:23.194-08:00

To appreciate the impact Article XXVII of the Augsburg Confession had, and how particularly upsetting it was to common understandings of the time, the reader has to realize how extensive monasticism was across Germany. By the way, the image here is of two Medieval monks the one giving the other the distinctive "tonsure" or shaving the top of the head, as a sign of having taken vows. Monasticism

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-22131325878839188722007-10-13T18:00:00.000-07:002007-10-13T18:15:48.950-07:00

It is difficult for 21st century Christians to appreciate fully the subject under discussion here probably because, both among Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics, the impact of canon laws governing what can, and can not, be eaten and at what times one must fast, and not fast, has become more of a historic relic of the past. Choosing not to eat a certain food, at a certain time, is a matter

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-40182790840209543712007-09-29T11:22:00.000-07:002007-10-13T18:00:30.239-07:00

The Lutheran Reformation has its root cause in the confessional. People coming to make their confession to Father Martin Luther began to tell him that they needn't worry any longer about forgiveness, or about what they might, or might not do, because they had purchased an indulgence, and considered it a "get out of hell free" card that assured them of God's grace and mercy in spite of anything

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-19368823240562296642007-09-10T19:23:00.000-07:002007-10-13T18:00:13.350-07:00

"Our churches are falsely accused of abolishing the Mass. The Mass is held among us and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved..." So begins Article XXIV. Here's a rather unbiased observer's notes on what the Lutherans were up to back then. Musculous, the south German, writes: Eisenach, May 14, 1536, Cantate Sunday: the so-called "Office

William Weedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-68272480420292610372007-08-27T11:27:00.001-07:002007-10-13T17:59:45.430-07:00

By the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, forced celibacy was the rule for all men who wanted to serve as priests [pastors] in the church, and in any position of ministry. Canon law requiring such was put into place in Germany some four hundred years previous to the Augsburg Confession. But much earlier, enforced celibacy was enacted. At a Roman council held by Pope Siricius in 386 an

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-78984328681762455672007-08-07T08:34:00.000-07:002007-10-13T17:59:27.596-07:00

The Augsburg Confession concludes its presentation on various doctrinal points and moves into a presentation on the "various abuses" that have been "corrected" by the Lutherans. Obviously, these "abuses," as the Lutherans refer to them, struck a very raw nerve among Roman Catholic theologians and princes. The topics dealt with in this section of the Augsburg Confession are, in the following order

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-84206525338939295192007-07-23T15:14:00.000-07:002007-08-27T11:26:30.589-07:00

Charles Porterfield Krauth notes that the doctrinal sections of the AC begin with God and end with the saints. Most fitting. There is undue fear of the saints in current Lutheranism (a bit of reaction, I suppose, to Roman excesses) that would have surprised and shocked the Augsburg Confessors. Instead of ignoring the saints (or pretending "they're just the same as you and me"), the Confession

William Weedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-49849088910498143562007-06-28T12:53:00.000-07:002007-07-01T10:15:38.181-07:00

Lutherans forbid good works. That was what folks were saying then, and some have gone on saying it, including those who should know better. No, Lutherans do NOT forbid good works, but they command all those works which God has enjoined on us. As Luther pointed out - if we take care of those, we won't have any time for the ones we try to make up on our own. The made up ones - "particular

William Weedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-49187456809643402102007-06-23T13:19:00.001-07:002007-06-23T13:43:11.855-07:00

Our churches teach that although God creates and preserves nature, the cause of sin is located in the will of the wicked, that is, the devil and ungodly people. Without God's help, this will turns itself away from God, as Christ says, "When he lies, he speaks out of his own character" (John 8:44). We stand here again and gaze on a mystery: evil. What is known about it is that evil and the sin

Paul McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-56381700412439306082007-06-20T16:41:00.000-07:002007-06-20T16:51:31.924-07:00

Article XVIII: Our churches teach that a person’s will has some freedom to choose civil righteousness and to do things subject to reason. It has no power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness.... Our churches condemn the Pelagians and others who teach that without the Holy Spirit, by natural power alone, we are able to love God above all

wmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-35227072051964512492007-06-13T18:55:00.001-07:002007-08-27T11:26:43.043-07:00

Just offer to unlock the secrets of Revelation and reveal all kinds of end-time mysteries and watch your church pack out. The Lutheran Church with joy misses out on these Hal Lindsey fests. Instead she confesses the certainties which Scripture gives: * At the end of the world Christ will appear for judgment and will raise all the dead. Appear is a big word. In the NT, more often than not,

William Weedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-45919568233857388982007-06-05T09:24:00.000-07:002007-08-27T11:26:55.521-07:00

From the exciting topic of church ceremonies, to the boring topic of government. Well, okay, I've shown my prejudice. The biggy in AC XVI is to teach that "lawful civil regulations are good works of God." In other words, there's nothing dirty about them in themselves, which is not to say that we cannot abuse them the same way we abuse every other good gift of God. Because they are "good works of

William Weedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-29398728360274666282007-05-12T09:19:00.000-07:002007-05-13T05:48:07.589-07:00

Our churches teach that ceremonies ought to be observed that may be observed without sin. Also, ceremonies and other practices that are profitable for tranquility and good order in the Church (in particular, holy days, festivals, and the like) ought to be observed. Yet, the people are taught that consciences are not to be burdened as though observing such things was necessary for salvation.

wmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-54819851793427134152007-05-03T08:18:00.000-07:002008-07-26T18:43:27.411-07:00

Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments, without a rightly ordered call (nisi rite vocatus, ohn ordentlichen Beruf). AC XIV. Short, sweet, and to the point. Article XIV is the third of what I call the “defensive articles,” defending the Lutheran Reformers against slanderous associations with the radicals. This article is in direct

wmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.com