The position accorded the symbols in the Lutheran Church is clearly
defined by the Book of Concord itself. According to it Holy Scripture
alone is to be regarded as the sole rule and norm by which absolutely
all doctrines and teachers are to be judged. The object of the
Augustana, as stated in its Preface, was to show "what manner of
doctrine has been set forth, in our lands and churches from the Holy
Scripture and the pure Word of God." And in its Conclusion the Lutheran
confessors declare: "Nothing has been received on our part against
Scripture or the Church Catholic," and "we are ready, God willing, to
present ampler information according to the Scriptures." "Iuxta
Scripturam"--such are the closing words of the Augsburg Confession. The
Lutheran Church knows of no other principle.
In the Formula of Concord we read: "Other writings, however, of ancient
or modern teachers, whatever name they bear, must not be regarded as
equal to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be subjected to
them, and should not be received otherwise or further than as witnesses,
[which are to show] in what manner after the time of the apostles, and
at what places, this doctrine of the prophets and apostles was
preserved." (777, 2.) In the Conclusion of the Catalog of Testimonies we
read: "The true saving faith is to be founded upon no church-teachers,
old or new, but only and alone upon God's Word, which is comprised in
the Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles, as unquestionable
witnesses of divine truth." (1149.)
The Lutheran symbols, therefore, are not intended to supplant the
Scriptures, nor do they do so. They do, however, set forth what has been
at all times the unanimous understanding of the pure Christian doctrine
adhered to by sincere and loyal Lutherans everywhere; and, at the same
time, they show convincingly from the Scriptures that our forefathers
did indeed manfully confess nothing but God's eternal truth, which every
Christian is in duty bound to, and consistently always will, believe,
teach, and confess.
The manner also in which Lutherans pledge themselves confessionally
appears from these symbols. The Augsburg Confession was endorsed by the
princes and estates as follows: "The above articles we desire to present
in accordance with the edict of Your Imperial Majesty, in order to
exhibit our Confession and let men see a summary of the doctrine of our
teachers." (95, 6.) In the preamble to the signatures of 1537 the
Lutheran preachers unanimously confess: "We have reread the articles of
the Confession presented to the Emperor in the Assembly at Augsburg, and
by the favor of God all the preachers who have been present in this
Assembly at Smalcald harmoniously declare that they believe and teach in
their churches according to the articles of the Confession and Apology."
(529.) John Brenz declares that he had read and reread, time and again,
the Confession, the Apology, etc., and judged "that all these agree with
Holy Scripture, and with the belief of the true and genuine catholic
Church (_haec omnia convenire cum Sacra Scriptura et cum sententia verae
kai gnesies catholicae ecclesiae_)." (529.) Another subscription--to the
Smalcald Articles--reads: "I, Conrad Figenbotz, for the glory of God
subscribe that I have thus believed and am still preaching and firmly
believing as above." (503, 13.) Brixius writes in a similar vein: "I ...
subscribe to the Articles of the reverend Father Martin Luther, and
confess that hitherto I have thus believed and taught, and by the Spirit
of Christ I shall continue thus to believe and teach." (503, 27.)
In the Preface to the Thorough Declaration of the Formula of Concord the
Lutheran confessors declare: "To this Christian Augsburg Confession, so
thoroughly grounded in God's Word, we herewith pledge ourselves again
from our inmost hearts. We abide by its simple, clear, and unadulterated
meaning as the words convey it, and regard the said Confession as a pure
Christian symbol, with which at the present time true Christians ought
to be found next to God's Word.... We intend also, by the grace of the
Almighty, faithfully to abide until our end by this Christian
Confession, mentioned several times, as it was delivered in the year
1530 to the Emperor Charles V; and it is our purpose, neither in this
nor in any other writing, to recede in the least from that oft-cited
Confession, nor to propose another or new confession." (847, 4. 5.)
Again: "We confess also the First, Unaltered Augsburg Confession as our
symbol for this time (not because it was composed by our theologians,
but because it has been taken from God's Word and is founded firmly and
well therein), precisely in the form in which it was committed to
writing in the year 1530, and presented to the Emperor Charles V at
Augsburg." (851, 5.)
In like manner the remaining Lutheran symbols were adopted. (852. 777.)
Other books, the Formula of Concord declares, are accounted useful, "as
far as (_wofern, quatenus_) they are consistent with" the Scriptures and
the symbols. (855, 10.) The symbols, however, are accepted "that we may
have a unanimously received, definite, common form of doctrine, which
all our Evangelical churches together and in common confess, from and
according to which, because (_cum, weil_) it has been derived from God's
Word, all other writings should be judged and adjusted, as to how far
(_wiefern, quatenus_) they are to be approved and accepted." (855, 10.)
After its adoption by the Lutheran electors, princes, and estates, the
Formula of Concord, and with it the entire Book of Concord, was, as
stated, solemnly subscribed by about 8,000 theologians, pastors, and
teachers, the pledge reading as follows: "Since now, in the sight of God
and of all Christendom, we wish to testify to those now living and those
who shall come after us that this declaration herewith presented
concerning all the controverted articles aforementioned and explained,
and no other, is our faith, doctrine, and confession in which we are
also willing, by God's grace to appear with intrepid hearts before the
judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, and give an account of it; and that we
will neither privately nor publicly speak or write anything contrary to
it, but, by the help of God's grace, intend to abide thereby: therefore,
after mature deliberation, we have, in God's fear and with the
invocation of His name, attached our signatures with our own hands."
(1103, 40.)
Furthermore, in the Preface to the Book of Concord the princes and
estates declare that many churches and schools had received the Augsburg
Confession "as a symbol of the present time in regard to the chief
articles of faith, especially those involved in controversy with the
Romanists and various corruptions of the heavenly doctrine." (7.) They
solemnly protest that it never entered their minds "either to introduce,
furnish a cover for, and establish any false doctrine, or in the least
even to recede from the Confession presented in the year 1530 at
Augsburg." (15.) They declare: "This Confession also, by the help of
God, we will retain to our last breath when we shall go forth from this
life to the heavenly fatherland, to appear with joyful and undaunted
mind and with a pure conscience before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus
Christ." (15.) "Therefore we also have determined not to depart even a
finger's breadth either from the subjects themselves or from the phrases
which are found in them (_vel a rebus ipsis vel a phrasibus, quae in
illa habentur, discedere_), but, the Spirit of the Lord aiding us, to
persevere constantly, with the greatest harmony, in this godly
agreement, and we intend to examine all controversies according to this
true norm and declaration of the pure doctrine." (23.)