Confessing Concord

And - on Lutheran identity. Protestant, Catholic, neither, or both?

AC 21, together with the adjacent articles from Luther's Smalcald Articles and Melanchton's further work in his apology to the Augsburg Confession on the matter of the invocation of the saint.

Book of Concord, AC 20:27-39

AC 20:8-26

Book of Concord, Augsburg Confession Article XX: on Good Works, Par 1-7

What is the cause of sin?

Do we have free will? What about Luther's on the bondage of the will? What about Lutheran Pietism? What about Election? And what is the whole point of this article anyway?

It is also taught that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the Last Day to judge, to raise all the dead, [2] to give eternal life and eternal joy to those who believe and are elect, [3] but to condemn the ungodly and the devils to hell and eternal punishment.[4] Rejected, therefore, are the Anabaptists who teach that the devils and condemned human beings will not suffer eternal torture and torment.[5] Likewise rejected are some Jewish teachings, which have also appeared in the present, that before the resurrection of the dead saints and righteous people alone will possess a secular kingdom and will annihilate all the ungodlyRobert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 50.

Church & State

Concerning church regulations made by human beings, it is taught to keep those that may be kept without sin and that serve to maintain peace and good order in the church, such as specific celebrations, festivals, etc. [2] However, people are also instructed not to burden consciences with them as if such things were necessary for salvation. [3] Moreover, it is taught that all rules and traditions made by human beings for the purpose of appeasing God and of earning grace are contrary to the gospel and the teaching concerning faith in Christ. [4] That is why monastic vows and other traditions concerning distinctions of foods, days, and the like, through which people imagine they can earn grace and make satisfaction for sin, are good for nothing and contrary to the gospel.Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 48.

Concerning church government it is taught that no one should publicly teach, preach, or administer the sacraments without a proper public call

[1] Concerning the use of sacraments it is taught that the sacraments are instituted not only to be signs by which people may recognize Christians outwardly, but also as signs and testimonies of God’s will toward us in order thereby to awaken and strengthen our faith. [2] That is why they also require faith and are rightly used when received in faith for the strengthening of faith.[3] Rejected, therefore, are those who teach that the sacraments justify ex opere operato without faith and who do not teach that this faith should be added so that the forgiveness of sin (which is obtained through faith and not through work) may be offered thereRobert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 46.

properly speaking, true repentance is nothing else than to have contrition and sorrow, or terror about sin, and yet at the same time to believe in the gospel and absolution that sin is forgiven and grace is obtained through Christ

Concerning confession it is taught that private absolution should be retained and not abolished. However, it is not necessary to enumerate all misdeeds and sins,64 [2] since it is not possible to do so. Psalm 19[:12*]: “But who can detect their errors?

Why do we call it the Lord's Supper?What is present here?What kind of presence is it?Why do we confess its distribution?What is the Augsburg Variata?