Book of Concord.org: Hard to Find Documents Now Available
If you have not had a chance to take a look at the new and improved home of the Lutheran Confessions on the Internet, BookofConcord.org, I think you will be interested in several new items we've added. Look for them under the "Sources and Context" section of the web site, in the left-hand column of the page.
Exsurge Domine, 1520
This Papal Bull set forth Rome's case against Luther and pointed out his perceived errors.
Excommunication of Luther, 1521
This is the actual Papal excommunication of Luther and all his followers, along with a photo of the document itself.
Johann Eck's 404 Theses, 1530
This document was, in large part, responsible for final content of the Augsburg Confession. Eck prepared this recounting of alleged heresies of Luther and other reformers, and his accusations were answered by the Augsburg Confession. It is a very interesting look into the mind of the Roman opponents of Luther. An excellent introduction and explanation by Henry Eyster Jacobs accompanies the translation.
Martin Luther's Exhortation to the Clergy in Augsburg, 1530
This was the first document that Luther prepared at his quarters at the Coburg Fortress, after his colleagues and the Lutheran princes went on to Augsburg, for the Diet. It has been called "Luther's Augsburg Confession." We have a few photos up of the Coburg Fortress and Luther's room there.
The Confutation of the Augsburg Confession, 1530
This was the Roman response to the Augsburg Confession, the document to which the Apology of the Augsburg Confession is replying.
The Consensus Tigurinus, 1549
John Calvin prepared this document as a statement intended to unify various strands in the Reformed movement. It conclusively demonstrates and proves that Calvinism is very much in favor of a spiritualizing interpretation of the Words of Institution and places Calvinism in the stream of Zwinglianism. Comments and expressions in this document are specifically repudiated by the Formula of Concord.
The Saxon Visitation Articles, 1592
The most concise and explicit rejection of Calvinism by Lutherans. These articles were prepared, and used, to rid Saxony of infiltrating Calvinists. It was included in all editions of the Book of Concord published in Germany, from 1592 until the Prussian Union of 1817.
Nice additions! It would also be great to have online Luther’s 1533 Torgau sermon on the decensus clause that is cited in the Formula.
[[McCain Response: I have been looking for a translation of that sermon that is in the public domain, but so far, nada.]]
Fantastic stuff…thanks for adding this PTM!
in Christ,
jW
The new BoC site is superb! Excellent work. Putting in links to the Confutation and Defense…. Wow! Again, very good job.
I agree that the resource is a great one to have online — not just for LCMS members but for all English-speaking Christians around the world.
The original text seems to be written by and for Concordia Seminary students, so I had a few requests to give more context for newbies or others who have less knowledge of Lutheran theology.
1. Could you put dates on all the document? The ecumenical and Lutheran documents seem to be missing them. (If there’s not a good date, then ca. 500 is better than nothing)
2. Can you list an author for all documents? Perhaps the authorship is discussed in an italicized preface to show it’s not part of the document. This could be combined with the date, e.g. “Written by Martin Luther at Wittenburg in 1519″.
3. To show the progression of theology and the theological dispute, it also would be nice if you could draw a timeline for the 16th century documents — say Lutheran documents above the line and Roman documents below the line.
4. In the context section, wouldn’t you want the 95 Theses?
Hope these suggestions are helpful.
Thanks for adding the Confutation. That is really cool.