The Book of Concord (1580) or Concordia (often referred to as the Lutheran Confessions) is the historic doctrinal standard recognized as authoritative by many Lutheran church bodies since the 16th century. It consists of ten creedal documents and is also known as the symbolical book of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The Book of Concord was published in German on June 25, 1580, in Dresden, the fiftieth anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg. The authoritative Latin edition was published in 1584 in Leipzig.
Those who accept it as their doctrinal standard recognize it to be a faithful exposition of the Bible. The Holy Scriptures are set forth in The Book of Concord to be the sole, divine source and norm of all Christian doctrine.
Origin and arrangement
The Book of Concord was compiled by a group of theologians led by Jakob Andreae and Martin Chemnitz at the behest of their rulers, who desired an end to the religious controversies in their territories that arose among Lutherans after the death of Martin Luther in 1546. It was intended to replace German territorial collections of doctrinal statements, known as (bodies of doctrine) such as the Corpus doctrinæ Philippicum or Misnicum. This aim is reflected by the compilers' not calling it a ' although it technically is one. The list of writings predating the Formula of Concord that would be included in The Book of Concord are listed and described in the "Rule and Norm" section of the Formula.
Following the preface written by Andreae and Chemnitz (1578–1580) the "Three Ecumenical Creeds" were placed at the beginning in order to show the identity of Lutheran teaching with that of the ancient Christian church. These creeds, the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed, were formulated before the East-West Schism of 1054, but the Nicene Creed is the western version containing the filioque.
The other documents come from the earliest years of the Lutheran Reformation (1529–1577). They are the Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, both by Philipp Melanchthon, the Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther, his Smalcald Articles, Melanchthon's Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord, which was composed shortly before the publishing of the Book of Concord and intended for the same purpose: the pacification and unification of the growing Lutheran movement. The preface of the Book of Concord was considered to be the preface of the Formula of Concord as well. A recent book on Lutheranism asserts, "To this day ... the Augsburg Confession ... remains the basic definition of what it means to be a 'Lutheran. The Apology, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise, and the Formula of Concord explain, defend, or serve as addenda to The Augsburg Confession.
Contents
- Preface (1579)
- The Three Ecumenical creeds.
- The Apostles' Creed
- The Nicene Creed
- The Athanasian Creed
- The Augsburg Confession of 1530
- The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)
- The Smalcald Articles of Martin Luther (1537)
- Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)
- The Small Catechism of Martin Luther (1529)
- Luther's Marriage Booklet (1529) and Baptism Booklet (1526) were included as part of the Small Catechism in a few of the 1580 editions of the German Book of Concord
- The Large Catechism of Martin Luther (1529)
- Epitome of the Formula of Concord (1577)
- The Solid or Thorough Declaration of the Formula of Concord (1577).
- The Catalog of Testimonies was added as an appendix in most of the 1580 editions.
Context in Christendom
The simple Latin title of the Book of Concord, Concordia (Latin for "an agreeing together"), is fitting for the character of its contents: Christian statements of faith setting forth what is believed, taught, and confessed by the confessors "with one heart and voice." This follows St. Paul's directive: "that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Cor. 1:10; NKJV). The creeds and confessions that constitute the Book of Concord are not the private writings of their various authors: