The Book of Concord or Concordia is the collection of the formal statements of what the Lutheran Church believes. The German edition of the Book of Concord was published on June 25, 1580, fifty years after the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg. The Latin edition was published in 1584.

The documents which make up the Book of Concord, composed between 325-1580, are believed by Lutherans to be true and faithful explanations of the most important teachings of the Bible. The word "concordia" is a Latin word that means "harmony" and, literally, "with one heart." The book was thus named "Concordia," indicating its purpose as a collection of statements of faith intended to give common voice to the convictions of those who accepted these confessions as their own, and as a means to establish and maintain doctrinal harmony.

The first documents in the book are the "Three Ecumenical Creeds," the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed, statements of Christian faith in wide use throughout the Christian church before the East-West Schism of 1054. The other documents come from the earliest years of the Lutheran Reformation. They include the Augsburg Confession, the Apology (Defense) of the Augsburg Confession, both written chiefly by Philipp Melanchthon, then the Small and Large Catechism by Martin Luther, his Smalcald Articles, and Melanchthon's Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope. The final documents, the two sections of the Formula of Concord, were written shortly before the Book of Concord was published. Their intention was the same as that of the book itself: to unify the growing Lutheran movement.

To this day the Book of Concord is regarded as doctrinally normative among traditional and conservative Lutheran churches, which require their pastors and other rostered church workers to pledge themselves unconditionally to the Book of Concord. Among other Lutheran churches, the Book of Concord is regarded as an important witness to the historical teachings of the Lutheran Church, and though not necessarily doctrinally binding, they are regarded as an important guide.

Contents

• The Three Ecumenical Creeds
  • The Apostles' Creed
  • The Nicene Creed
  • The Athanasian Creed
• The Augsburg Confession of 1530
• The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)
• The Small Catechism of Martin Luther (1529)
• The Large Catechism of Martin Luther (1529)
• The Smalcald Articles of Martin Luther (1537)
• Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)
• Epitome of the Formula of Concord (1577)
• The Solid or Thorough Declaration of the Formula of Concord (1577).

Resources

Editions

Printed

• Bente, F. et al., trans. and eds. Concordia Triglotta. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921. [http://online.nph.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?10418&productID=150461.
• Kolb, Robert and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8006-2740-7
• McCain, Paul T., Robert C. Baker, Gene Edward Veith, and Edward A. Engelbrecht, eds. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions -- A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005. ISBN 0758608063
• Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959. ISBN 0-8006-0825-9

Online

• The Book of Concord in PDF and HTML, other useful resources as well - www.bookofconcord.org

Commentaries and historical resources

• Bente, Friedrich. Historical Introductions to the Book of Concord. (1921) New reprint edition. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995. ISBN 0-570-03262-8 View excerpt here.
• Fagerberg, Holsten. A New Look at the Lutheran Confessions (1529-1537). Gene Lund, trans. Paperback Edition. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1988. ISBN 0-570-04499-5
• Forell, George W. The Augsburg Confession: A Contemporary Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1968. LOC 68-25798
• Kolb, Robert and James A. Nestingen, eds. Sources and Contexts of The Book of Concord. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8006-3290-7
• Jacob A.O. Preus. The Second Martin: The Life and Theology of Martin Chemnitz. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.
• Preus, Robert D. and Wilbert H. Rosin, eds. A Contemporary Look at the Formula of Concord. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1978. ISBN 0-570-03271-7
• Preus, Robert D. ''Getting Into the Theology of Concord." Reprint. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.
• Preus, Robert D. Theology of Post-Reformation Lutheranism: Volume I. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1972. ISBN 0-570-04545-2
• Reu, Johann Michael. The Augsburg Confession. Reprint. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995.
• Schlink, Edmund. Theology of the Lutheran Confessions. Translated by P. Koehneke and H. Bouman. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, Reprint 2004.
• Schmauk, Theodore. The Confessional Principle and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. Translated by C. Theodore Benze. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, Reprint 2005.

Christian confessions, creeds and statements of faith | Christian texts | Lutheranism | Martin Luther

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