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TheAugsburg Confession (German:Augsburger Bekenntnis), also known as theAugustan Confession or theAugustana from itsLatin name,Confessio Augustana, is the primaryconfession of faith of theLutheran Church and one of the most important documents of theProtestant Reformation. The Augsburg Confession was written in bothGerman andLatin and was presented by a number of Germanrulers and free-cities at theDiet of Augsburg on 25 June 1530.
TheHoly Roman Emperor,Charles V, had called on the Princes and Free Territories inGermany to explain their religious convictions in an attempt to restore religious and political unity in theHoly Roman Empire and rally support against theOttoman invasion in the 16th-centurySiege of Vienna. It is the fourth document contained in the LutheranBook of Concord.
Philipp Melanchthon,Martin Luther, andJustus Jonas had already drafted a statement of their theological views in theArticles of Schwabach in 1529,[1] when on 21 January 1530,Emperor Charles V issued letters fromBologna, inviting theImperial Diet to meet inAugsburg on 8 April for the purpose of discussing and deciding various important questions. Although the writ of invitation was couched in very peaceful language, it was received with suspicion by some of the Protestants. LandgravePhilip of Hesse hesitated to attend the diet, but the ElectorJohn of Saxony, who received the writ 11 March, on 14 March directed Martin Luther, Justus Jonas,Johannes Bugenhagen and Philipp Melanchthon to meet inTorgau, where he was, and present a summary of the Lutheran faith to be laid before theHoly Roman Emperor at the diet.[2]
This summary has received the name of the "Torgau Articles". On 3 April, the elector and reformers started fromTorgau, and reachedCoburg on 23 April. There, Luther was left behind because he was an outlaw according to theDiet of Worms. The rest reached Augsburg on 2 May. On the journey, Melanchthon worked on a larger draft based on the Torgau articles, and sent this to Luther at Coburg on 11 May, who approved it. Several alterations were suggested to Melanchthon in his conferences with Jonas, the Saxon chancellorChristian Beyer, the conciliatoryChristopher von Stadion,bishop of Augsburg, and the imperial secretaryAlfonso de Valdes.[2]
On 23 June, the final form of the text was adopted in the presence of the Elector John of Saxony, the LandgravePhilip of Hesse, the MargraveGeorge of Brandenburg, the Dukes Ernest andFrancis of Lüneburg, the representatives ofNuremberg andReutlingen, and other counselors, besides twelve theologians. After the reading, the confession was signed by the ElectorJohn of Saxony, Margrave George of Brandenburg, DukeErnest of Lüneburg, the Landgrave Philip of Hesse, the PrinceWolfgang of Anhalt, the representatives of Nuremberg and Reutlingen, and probably also the electoral prince John Frederick and Duke Francis of Lüneburg.[2]
During the diet, the cities ofWeißenburg in Bayern,Heilbronn,Kempten, andWindesheim also expressed their concurrence with the confession. The emperor had ordered the confession to be presented to him at the next session, 24 June. When the Protestant princes asked that it be read in public, their petition was refused, and efforts were made to prevent the public reading of the document altogether. The Protestant princes declared that they would not part with the confession until its reading should be allowed.[2]
The 25th was then fixed for the day of its presentation. In order to exclude the people, the little chapel of the episcopal palace was appointed in place of the spacious city hall, where the meetings of the diet were held. The two Saxon chancellorsChristian Beyer andGregor Brück, the former with the plain German copy, the other in traditional Latin language, against the wish of the emperor stepped into the middle of the assembly. The reading of the German version of the text byChristian Beyer lasted two hours and was so distinct that every word could be heard outside. The reading being over, the copies were handed to the emperor. The German copy he gave to the imperial chancellor, the Elector of Mainz. The Latin copy he took away. Neither of the copies is now extant.[2]
The first official publication (Editio princeps) was edited by Philipp Melanchthon, a professor at theUniversity of Wittenberg and a close colleague and friend of Martin Luther.
The Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles presented by Lutheran princes and representatives of "free cities" at the Diet of Augsburg that set forward what the Lutherans believed, taught and confessed in positive (theses) and negative (antitheses) statements. The theses are 21 Chief Articles of Faith describing the normative principles of Christian faith held by the Lutherans; the antitheses are seven statements describing what they viewed as abuses of the Christian faith present in the Roman Catholic church.
| Article | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| I | God | Christians believe in the Triune God and rejectother interpretations regarding the nature of God. |
| II | Original Sin | The nature of man is sinful, described as being without fear of God, without trust of God and withconcupiscence. Sin is redeemed throughBaptism and the Holy Spirit. |
| III | The Son of God | The incarnation, that is, the union of the fully human with the fully divine in the person of Jesus.Jesus Christ alone brings about the reconciliation of humanity with God. |
| IV | Justification By Faith | Man cannot be justified before God through our own abilities; we are wholly reliant on Jesus Christ for reconciliation with God. (This is often described as the one article by which the "Lutheran church stands or falls".) |
| V | The Office of Preaching | To ensure that the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed throughout the world, Christ has established His office of the holy ministry. |
| VI | Of The New Obedience | Good deeds of Christians are the fruits of faith and salvation, not a price paid for them. |
| VII | Of The Church | There isone holy Christian church, and it is found wherever thegospel is preached in its truth and purity and thesacraments are administered according to the gospel. |
| VIII | What The Church Is | Despite what hypocrisy may exist in the church (and among men), the Word and the Sacraments are always valid because they are instituted by Christ, no matter what the sins may be of the one who administers them. |
| IX | OfBaptism | Baptism is necessary, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God.Children are baptized as an offering to them of God's grace. |
| X | Of theLord's Supper | Christ's body and blood aretruly present and are distributed to communicants. They rejectthose that teach otherwise. |
| XI | OfConfession | Private absolution should remain in the church, though a believer does not need to enumerate all of his sins as it is impossible for a man to enumerate all of the sins for which he should be forgiven. |
| XII | Of Repentance | Repentance comes in two parts: in contrition for sins committed according to theLaw and through faith offered through the Gospel. A believer can never be free from sin, nor live outside of the grace of God. |
| XIII | Of the Use of the Sacraments | TheSacraments (Baptism and the Eucharist) are physical manifestations of God's Word and His commitment to us. The Sacraments are never just physical elements, but have God's word and promises bound to them. |
| XIV | Of Ecclesiastical Order | Only those who are "properly called" may publicly preach or administer the Sacraments. |
| XV | Of Ecclesiastical Usages | Church holidays,calendars and festivals are useful for religious observance, but that observance and ritual is not necessary for salvation. Human traditions (such as observances, fasts, distinctions in eating meats) that are taught as a way to "merit" grace work in opposition to the Gospel. |
| XVI | Of Civil Affairs | Secular governments and vocations are considered to be part of God's natural orders; Christians are free to serve in government and the military and to engage in the business and vocations of the world. Laws are to be followed unless they are commandments to sin. |
| XVII | Of Christ's Return toJudgment | Christ will return to raise the dead and judge the world; the godly will be given everlasting joy, and the ungodly will be "tormented without end". This article rejects notions of amillennial kingdom before the resurrection of the dead. |
| XVIII | OfFree Will | Men have, to some extent, free will in the realm of "civil righteousness" (or "things subject to reason"), but that we do not have free will in "spiritual righteousness". In other words, we have no free choice when it comes to salvation. Faith is not the work of men, but of the Holy Spirit. |
| XIX | Of the Cause of Sin | Sin is caused not by God but by "the will of the wicked", turning away from God. |
| XX | Of Good Works | Justification by faith does not somehow condemn good works; faith causes them to do good works as a sign of our justification (or salvation), not a requirement for salvation. |
| XXI | Of the Worship of the Saints | Saints are kept, not as saviors or intercessors to God, but rather as examples and inspirations to our own faith and life. |
| Article | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| XXII | Of Both Kinds In The Sacrament (Eucharist) | It is proper to offer communicants the consecrated breadand wine, not just the bread. |
| XXIII | Of the Marriage of Priests | Lutherans permit their clergy to enter the institution of marriage, for the reasons that the early Church bishops were married, that God blesses marriage as an order of creation, and because marriage and procreation is the natural outlet for human sexual desire. |
| XXIV | Of the Mass | Lutherans retain the practice of the Mass, but only as a public gathering for the purposes of community worship and the receiving of the Eucharist. Lutherans reject the practice of using the Mass as a "work" for both salvation and worldly (monetary) gain. |
| XXV | Of Confession | Lutherans uphold the need for confession and absolution, but reject the notion that Confession should induce guilt or anxiety to the Christian. Absolution is offered for all sin, not just sins that can be recounted in a confession, as it is impossible for a man to know all of his transgressions. |
| XXVI | Of the Distinction of Meats | Human traditions that hold fasting and special observances with dietary restrictions as a means of gaining the favor of God are contrary to the gospel. While fasting and other practices are useful spiritual practices, they do not justify man nor offer salvation. |
| XXVII | Of Monastic Vows | Man cannot achieve purity in community or isolation from the rest of the world, and perfection cannot be attained by any vow taken or actions of man alone. |
| XXVIII | Of Ecclesiastical Power | The only power given to priests or bishops is the power offered through Scripture to preach, teach and administer the sacraments. The powers given to the clergy in issues of government or the military are granted and respected only through civil means; they are not civil rulers of governments and the military by divine right. |
"That in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic." Signatures of several secular leaders in Saxony.
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The Augsburg Confession became the primary confessional document for the Lutheran movement, even without the contribution of Martin Luther. Following the public reading of the Augsburg Confession in June 1530, the expected response by Charles V and the Vatican representatives at the Diet of Augsburg was not immediately forthcoming. Following debate between the court of Charles V and the Vatican representatives, the official response known as thePontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession was produced to the Diet, though the document was so poorly prepared that the document was never published for widespread distribution, nor presented to the Lutherans at the Diet.
In September, Charles V declared the response to be sufficient and gave the Lutheran princes until 15 April 1531 to respond to the demands of the Confutation. In response, Philip Melanchthon wrote a lengthy and sustained argument both supporting the Augsburg Confession and refuting the arguments made in the Confutation. This document became known as theApology of the Augsburg Confession and was soon translated into German and was widely distributed and read throughout Germany.
The Lutheran princes at the diet concurrently agreed to a military alliance in the event of action by Charles V known as theSchmalkaldic League. By 1535, the League admitted any city or state to the alliance that gave official assent to the Augsburg Confession and the Apology. Significantly, the Confession was translated into English in 1536, andKing Henry VIII was given opportunity to sign the confession and join the league, but theological and political disputes would prevent the English church from joining.
The English translation of the Augsburg Confession and German Lutheran theologians would influence the composition of the first of the Anglican articles of faith started in the latter 1530s and culminating with theThirty-Nine Articles in 1563. In Scandinavia the Danish-Norwegian king Christian III marched into Copenhagen on 6 August 1536 and six days later he carried out a coup that established theReformation in Denmark and the start of the Reformation in Norway.
The three bishops who dwelt in Copenhagen were arrested and the rest were tracked down and likewise arrested. The official reason was their hesitation to elect Christian as king and other alleged criminal acts. The real reason was that Christian wanted to kill two birds with one stone: carrying through a Lutheran Reformation and confiscating the bishops' properties, the profits from which was needed to cover the expenses of the recently ended civil war.
In 1540,Philipp Melanchthon produced a revised edition, theVariata, which was signed byJohn Calvin. Many Lutheran churches specify in their official documents that they subscribe to the "Unaltered Augsburg Confession", as opposed to theVariata.
The political tensions between theSchmalkaldic League and the forces of Charles V and the Vatican eventually led to theSchmalkaldic War in 1546–1547, which ended the 1532Nuremberg Religious Peace and was won convincingly by Charles V. The war did not resolve the religious and political situation. Eight years later, the Lutheran princes and Charles V agreed to thePeace of Augsburg, which granted Lutheranism legal status within the Holy Roman Empire.
Theological disputes within the expanding sphere of Lutheranism to other territories in the latter half of the 16th century led to the compilation of a definitive set of Lutheran Confessions in theBook of Concord in 1580. TheBook of Concord includes the Augsburg Confession and theApology of the Augsburg Confession as the foundational confessions of the Lutheran faith.
| State | Year the AC was adopted |
|---|---|
| Electorate of Saxony | 1530 |
| Free City of Lübeck | 1530 |
| Württemberg | 1534 |
| Anhalt-Köthen | 1534–35 |
| Pomerania | 1534–35 |
| Bishopric of Lübeck | 1535 |
| Principality of Lippe | 1538 (switched to a Reformed confession in 1605) |
| Mark Brandenburg | 1539 |
| Mecklenburg | 1549 |
| County of Schaumburg | 1559 |
| Hessen-Kassel | 1566 (However, this was in name only, as Hessen-Kassel was Reformed even in 1566. In 1605 the Reformed faith was officially decreed.) |
| Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg | 1568 |
| Oldenburg-Land | 1573 |
| Bremen | 1566/1580 |
| Verden | 1566/1580 |
| Sweden (alsoFinland) | 1593, via theUppsala Synod |
| Denmark (also inNorway andIceland) | 1665 |
Felix Mendelssohn'sSymphony No. 5 (actually his second symphony in order of composition) was composed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession and thus bears the titleThe Reformation Symphony. The symphony, however, was not commissioned for the celebrations, because of either the composer's Jewish origins or the inappropriateness of a symphony for the celebrations. Instead, Eduard Grell's work for four men's voicesa capella was commissioned.
This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Kolde, T. (1914). "Augsburg Confession And Its Apology". In Jackson, Samuel Macauley (ed.).New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. pp. 361–363.
The full text ofAugsburg Confession at Wikisource
Augsburg Confession public domain audiobook atLibriVoxThe Lutheran Confessions — Documents of theBook of Concord | ||
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| Chief articles of faith in theAugsburg Confession |
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