The history of the Lutheran Confessions is the story of men and women who risked everything, and in some cases died, for the sake of the truth of God's Word. Friederich Bente tells the dramatic story of their joys and sorrows, their defeats and victories, their fear and their courage, with a wealth of detailed first-hand reports and eyewitness accounts of the events, people, and places that make up the dramatic history of the Lutheran Confessions. Lutheran Christians who fail to remember their history are cast adrift in an increasingly stormy sea of controversy, division, and disregard for our Lord's Word and Sacraments. What is more, they rob themselves of the opportunity to thank and praise the Lord of the Church for His rich and varied blessings through specific persons, events, places, and times.

Gassmann and Hendrix expertly present the historical context for the Reformation in its beginnings and development as background to the emergence and gathering of the Confessions. Core chapters then explore (1) the structure of faith (Scripture as norm law-gospel framework, the Trinity, and justification), (2) Christian community (the sacraments, ministry, the nature of the church), and (3) the Christian life (the two reigns sin, sanctification, eternal life). A final chapter examines the role the Confessions play in today's ecumenical, pluralistic environment.

This volume is an essential reference for understanding the Protestant Reformation and the shaping of the Lutheran Confessions. Sections include: The Book of Concord, or The Concordia. The Three Ecumenical or Universal Symbols. The Augsburg Confession. Melanchthon's Alterations of the Augsburg Confession. The Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Smalcald Articles and Tract concerning Power and Primacy of Pope. Luther's Efforts at Restoring Catechetical Instruction. The Small and the Large Catechism of Luther. The Smalcald War and the Augsburg and Leipzig Interims. Controversies Following the Interim and Settled by the Formula of Concord. The Adiaphoristic Controversy. The Majoristic Controversy. The Synergistic Controversy. The Flacian Controversy. The Osiandrian and Stancarian Controversies. The Antinomistic Controversy. The Crypto-Calvinistic Controversy. Controversy on Christ's Descent into Hell. The Eleventh Article of the Formula of Concord: On Predestination. Luther and Article XI of the Formula of Concord. Article XII of the Formula of Concord: Of Other Heretics and Sects. Origin, Subscription, Character, etc., of Formula of Concord. Friedrich Bente (1858-1930) was educated at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and served pastorates in Humberstone and Jordan, Ontario, Canada. Bente was president of the Canadian District of the Missouri Synod. He edited Lehre und Wehre and co-edited the "Triglotta" translation of the Lutheran Confessions. He is famous for his masterful volume, Historical Introductions to the Book of Concord. [Source: christian dot net] The Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry finds, restores and republishes good, readable books from Lutheran authors and those of other sound Christian traditions. All titles are available at little to no cost in proofread and freshly typeset editions. Many free e-books are available at our website LutheranLibrary.org. Please enjoy this book and let others know about this completely volunteer service to God's people. May the Lord bless you and bring you peace.

This useful guide offers a critical appraisal of a theological movement within the church catholic. The authors, a church historian and a systematic theologian, describe Lutheranism as centered in the fundamental principle of the Reformation, "justification by faith apart from works of law."The book focuses on the emergence of this chief article of faith as a proposal of dogma to the church ecumenical, its theological formulation, and its significance for the shaping of piety and doctrine. Each issue is treated in terms of both confessional history and systematic theology. Seminarians, pastors, teachers, and interested laypersons of all traditions will gain ecumenical insights as well as pertinent information from this work.

In this important new volume, Arand, Kolb, and Nestingen bring the fruit of an entire generation of scholarship to bear on these documents, making it an essential and up-to-date class text. The Lutheran Confessions places the documents solidly within their political, social, ecclesiastical and theological contexts, relating them to the world in which they took place. Though the book is not a theology of the Confessions, readers will clearly understand the issues at stake in the narratives, both in their own time, and in ours.