Last week, we didn’t quite finish with Article 28. So, today we will finish our study of the Augsburg Confession but also look into some things our Lutheran Confessions assert that may seem “weird” to us, revealing a theological worldview that differs from ours in several ways.
Making Laws in the Church
“We teach that bishops have no authority to decree anything against the Gospel” (AC 28, para 34).
- What does that mean, especially in light of Rome’s historic authority?
- “The authority that belongs to the bishops . . . They have no other authority according to the Gospel than:
Pastoral Authority
“The authority that belongs to the bishops . . . They have no other authority according to the Gospel than:
- The authority to forgive sins,
- to judge doctrine,
- to reject doctrines contrary to the Gospel,
- and to exclude from the communion of the Church wicked people, whose wickedness is known.” (AC 28, para 22)
Bishops cannot exclude people with human force but simply by the Word” (AC 28, para 21).
- How does this differ from what you may be used to?
A 20-Question Quiz on the Lutheran Confessions
Hint-hint: Buy the Confessions and read through them (so you can answer all these questions from your own reading of the Confessions)
True or False
1. Virginity is a higher gift than marriage.
Ref: Apology XXIII, paragraph 38
Explanation: virginity or marriage does not make one righteous. Virginity is only a higher gift in this way: it allows more time for prayer, for meditation on the Word, and for the work of the Kingdom.
2. Mary prays for the Church.
Ref: Apology XXI, paragraph 27
Explanation: The Confessions assert that the blessed dead, those who have died in the Faith, are in fact alive in Christ and intercede for the church “in a general way.”
3. Mary is the Mother of God.
Ref: Formula of Concord, Epitome VIII, paragraph 12
Explanation: The Church’s insistence on calling Mary the Mother of God (theotokos) is not to elevate Mary but to affirm who Jesus Christ is. Jesus gave birth to Jesus, who is God in the flesh.
4. Mary is called the most holy ever virgin.
Ref: Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, VIII, paragraph 24
Explanation: the default Lutheran position is that Mary remained a virgin her entire life.
5. We pray for those who have died in the faith.
Ref: Apology XXIV, paragraph 96
Explanation: The Christian DOES NOT pray for those who have died in the faith so they will be moved from one state to another (such as from “purgatory”). Instead, the Christian prays for them to enjoy the blessings that Christ has promised.
6. The Lutheran Church retains private confession, for it would be wicked thing for private absolution to disappear from the Church.
Ref: Augsburg Confession XI, paragraph 1; Apology XII, paragraph 100
7. In John chapter 6, when Jesus’ gave His “Bread of Life” discourse, He was not only teaching about faith in general but also prophetically referring to the Lord’s Supper.
Ref: Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, VII, paragraph 61
8. The bread in the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s body.
Ref: Smalcald Articles VI (Concerning the Sacrament of the Altar), paragraph 1
9. In the Lord’s Supper, the flesh of Christ given for the life of the world is our food and makes us alive by joining us to Christ.
Ref: Apology XXII, paragraph 10
10. Pastors do not normally commune those whom they have not examined and absolved.
Ref: Apology XXIV, para 1
11. When it comes to pastors forgiving sins, rejecting teachings that oppose the Gospel, and excluding from the communion of the Church the ungodly whose ungodliness is known, churches are bound by divine right to be obedient to the bishops [pastors].
Ref: Augsburg Confession XXVIII, paragraph 22
12. Justification can mean “to declare righteous” or “to make righteous” because Scripture speaks both ways.
Ref: Apology IV, paragraphs 71-72
13. Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions do not forbid speaking to (or invoking) the saints in heaven.
Ref: Apology XXI, paragraphs 10, 17; Smalcald Articles, the Second Article, paragraph 25
Explanation: Although not forbidden, neither does Scripture command the invocation of the Saints, recommend it, or show that we are to ask the saints to help us. The rationale that the Lutheran Confessions use not to teach or practice the invocation of the saints is twofold: First, prayers should be made from faith, and since we have no certainty about invoking the saints in eternity, it makes no sense to do so. Second, we do not know if the saints in eternity can “hear us.”
14. 2 Maccabees is Scripture.
Ref: Apology XXI (IX), paragraph 9
Note: The confessions also refer to Tobit as part of the Old-Testament scriptures to make a theological point.
15. We should teach people that church rites (made by humans) are to be kept if they can be observed without sin and contribute to peace and good order.
Ref: Augsburg Confession XV, paragraph 1
16. Children should be taught to make the sign of the cross.
Ref: Small Catechism, Morning / Evening Prayers, paragraphs 1 and 4
17. The baptized children of God have free will and cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
Ref: Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, II, paragraph 67
18. After Baptism, the inborn corruption is to decrease daily so we become increasingly gentle, patient, and meek, breaking away from greed, hatred, envy, and pride.
Ref: Large Catechism IV, paragraphs 65-67
19. We are justified so we might begin to do good works and to obey the law.
Ref: Apology IV, paragraph 348
20: Good works are not meritorious for forgiveness, grace, or justification. However, good works are meritorious for other physical and spiritual rewards in this life and in that which is to come.
Ref: Apology IV, paragraph 194
