The Essential Christian Library 3 - The Book of Concord

The Book of Concord (BOC) is an oft-neglected part of the  Christian's library.  Why is that so? Two reasons I think:

1. Not everyone is familiar with it
2. Those that are familiar with it think it’s not meant for them

What is the Book of Concord?

The Book of Concord is a collection of statements (confessions) of faith written between the second and the sixteenth centuries. The various documents in the BOC are responses to incorrect teachings and attacks from outside forces such as the Roman Catholic Church (esp. the Pope), the Reformed  (Calvinist) churches, and even “the Turk” (Islam).
The documents are:

• The Apostles' Creed (second century AD)
• The Nicene Creed (325 AD)
• The Athanasian Creed (sixth-eighth centuries AD)
• Luther's Large Catechism (1529)
• Luther's Small Catechism (1529)
• The Unaltered Augsburg Confession (1530)
• The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)
• The Smalcald Articles (1536)
• The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)
• The Formula of Concord (1577)

Shortly after the Formula of Concord was published, work began to assemble the Lutheran Confessions into a single volume. This work was completed in 1580 in Dresden with the German edition of  the Book of Concord. A Latin edition was published in 1584.
In case you are wondering (and without going into all the history), let me define some of those terms used above.

Apology – A public defense or clarification of stated belief.
Catechism – A manual of religious instruction, often written in a question-answer format.
Concord or Concordia – Harmony of belief in a common or shared doctrine.
Confess – To publicly state one’s faith
Creed – A concise statement of the central beliefs of a church
Doctrine – the teachings and principles held and professed by a church

So what makes the Book of Concord so special? Well, it clearly articulates what we Lutherans “believe, teach, and confess” and what we “reject and condemn.” The BOC is built on the foundational belief in the absolute, unchangeable truth of the Bible. Yes, we believe in truth, in absolutes. We believe that you can know the truth. It’s not mysterious or hidden. It is clearly stated in the Bible. The Book of Concord summarizes and explains what the Bible is saying.
Believing in truth means that you must reject that which is contrary to truth. The Book of Concord covers this as well. If someone says, “Jesus wasn’t really 100% God while also 100% man,” you can with confidence reject this statement by referring to: Article III of the Augsburg Confession, Article VIII of the Formula of Concord, etc. Within these articles are references to the the Bible verses which support the belief that Jesus was both God and man.

Is it really for me?

Many people think the BOC was written just for pastors and theologians, you know, “religious people.” Here is what C.F.W. Walther, first President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod had to say on the subject:

"The Book of Concord should be in every Lutheran home. If a person isn't familiar with this book, he'll think, 'That old book is just for pastors. I don't have to preach. After working all day, I can't sit down and study in the evening. If I read my morning and evening devotions, that's enough.' No, that is not enough! The Lord doesn't want us to remain children, blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine; instead of that, He wants us to grow in knowledge so that we can teach others." - Essays for the Church, Vol. II, pg. 51.

The Constitutions of most Lutheran congregations includes a statement on the BOC. At St. Luke’s Lutheran here in Reno, our constitution has the following:

This congregation accepts and acknowledges all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament as the inspired and revealed Word of God and acknowledges and accepts all the confessional writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, contained in the Book of Concord of the year 1580, as true and correct presentation or exposition of the doctrines of the Bible. These confessional writings are:

1. The three Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian)
2. The Unaltered Augsburg Confession
3. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession
4. The Smalcald Articles
5. Luther's Large Catechism
6. Luther's Small Catechism
7. The Formula of Concord

By the confessional norm shall all doctrines and practices in this congregation be judged.

If you are a member of St. Luke’s (or another Lutheran congregation), you have agreed to these (or similar) statements regarding the Bible, the Book of Concord, and the relationship between the two. If you haven’t read the BOC, now would be a perfect time to start.

Where can I find the Book of Concord?

You can find the BOC in a number of formats.

• Print editions
• Online
• Downloadable (PDF)
• for iPod/iPad 

The Print editions are produced by Concordia Publishing House (CPH) and were released in 2006. The electronic versions are from the Concordia Triglotta edition first published in 1921.
Have you read the Book of Concord yet? If yes, what do you think? If no, why not?

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura