The Augsburg Confession is so concise that each one of the early articles can be placed, complete, on a graphic.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession is a series of essays on the disputed matters. We can be glad that the papal faction argued against justification by faith, because that gave us Melanchthon's elaborations on the Augsburg Confession.
I have linked the main material on one page and posted a sticky note link on the left column.No excuses now. I realize that we all tend to read whatever is a click away. That is why I took the time to post most of the Book of Concord on this blog.
Every Lutheran, layman or pastor, is obliged to know these confessions and their catechisms - Luther's Small Catechism and Luther's Large Catechism. Both catechisms are really team efforts, with a genuine scoundrel (Agricola) involved as well. Moreover, they are church confessions, not just the publication of one man.
Luther's Large Catechism is condensed from his sermons, so reading the Large Catechism is the best kind of Gospel summary - sermons around the major themes of the Christian faith.
Everyone should pay close attention to Wayne Mueller's attack on the Confessions. The above quotation is the deposit of faith argument of the Roman Catholics. The infallible bishops (DPs) are free to announce any new doctrine they want, because the Holy Spirit will not permit them to err in doctrine.
Even worse, this quotation is more like the Mormon missionary theme. A pair of Mormon missionaries will say, "The Bible is good, but it is like one nail in a piece of wood. The wood still moves around with one nail in it. The Book of Mormon is the second nail that keeps it in place. Then it won't move."
I got the Mormons to say that the Bible 100% true, and they they believe in many gods. Then I said, "Here O Israel, the Lord our God is One God." They became very angry at that point.
Anger and opposition are two clear reactions to the Word of God. The Lutheran leaders who write the same nonsense as Wayne Mueller are worse than false teachers. They are enemies of the Gospel, infatuated with their own notions and drunk with their ecclesiastical power.
Once the second nail is in place, the Bible translation issue is irrelevant. That is because the second nail determines what is believed in the text itself. The constant undercurrent in the SynConference is not faithfulness to the Word and the Confessions but loyalty to Holy Mother Synod's dictates.
The SynConference attitude (found in ELCA, also spawned by Pietism) comes from the cell group leader as guru. In India, the guru is the spiritual leader who has absolute control over his disciples. He can make them do anything. As court testimony shows, Bishop Martin Stephan, STD, taught his female disciples that he owned them body and soul. He expected them to submit to his demands, and they did. His groupies and his clergy disciples (like the Walther brothers) followed him to America. When Stephan was robbed, threatened, deposed, and kidnapped by the Walther mob, the Great Walther took over the guru's role, reigning as the new pope.
The ELS, LCMS, and WELS leaders are true Waltherians. They are not Lutherans.
