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| The Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530 gave us the Augsburg Confession, in Latin the Confessio Augustana. Luther had to stay away, at a fortress, to be safe. Today the self-described Confessional Lutherans are afraid to confess Biblical truth. Are their lives in danger? No, their iPads. |
A. Berean has left a new comment on your post "From 1964 Until Now - How Far the Lutheran Church ...":
When you compare the kind of comments that Lutheran Pastors make about the Confessions and F. Bente's evaluation from the Triglot, it's a pretty harsh description of just how far the Lutheran Church has fallen from confessional orthodoxy:
"Wherever the Lutheran Church ignored her symbols or rejected all or some of them, there she always fell an easy prey to her enemies. But wherever she held fast to her God-given crown, esteemed and studied her confessions, and actually made them a norm and standard of her entire life and practice, there the Lutheran Church flourished and confounded all her enemies.
Accordingly, if Lutherans truly love their Church, and desire and seek her welfare, they must be faithful to her confessions and constantly be on their guard lest any one rob her of her treasure. To strengthen this loyalty and to further and facilitate the study of our "Golden Concordia,"—such is the object also of this Jubilee Edition—the Triglot Concordia."
- F. Bente
Two things about Charles V are especially significant for Lutherans:
I. Charles needed the Elector to remain in office, so the Elector had enormous power in keeping the the Emperor from burning Luther at the stake as a heretic. The Emperor and Pope tried to bribe the Elector with great honors, but the Elector refused.
II. Charles really hated the Lutheran Reformation and wanted to destroy it. He was a superb general and had to leave the German alone to pursue the Muslim armies, which were at the gates of Vienna, threatening all of Europe. The time after the 1530 Diet gave the Reformation time to become rooted in Germany and beyond. Therefore, the Ottoman Muslim threat was beneficial to the Reformation.
