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| The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are portrayed in this Duerer painting. |
Ancient Creeds -
All Denominations
The Apostles Creed, not known.
The Nicene Creed, 325 AD.
The Athanasian Creed, late 500s.
Creeds can be a summary of Scriptural truths - Apostles Creed - or a declaration of truths to oppose false doctrine. Passages in the New Testament appear to be hymns, brief creeds, and catechisms.
Augsburg - or Augustana Era - Evangelicals, 1530
The Augsburg Confession (Augustana in Latin) was formulated to distinguish the Evangelicals (Lutherans) from the dogmas and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Apology (Defense of the Augsburg Confession) was written to clarify and expand upon the principles of 1530 creed.
Philip Melanchthon was the leader, since Luther had to be protected from murder. Clergy and laity convened to establish the Scriptural foundation of the Reformation. They were risking their lives, and many Evangelicals/Protestants - the terms Lutherans used - paid the price with imprisonment, torture, and execution.
Formula and
Book of Concord Era, 1580
Luther died in 1546 at the age of 63. Melanchthon died in 1563, also at the age of 63. Factions grew up among the Evangelical Protestants. Martin Chemnitz, trained by Luther and Melanchthon, led a small group of superlative clergy who fashioned the Formula and the final contents of the Book of Concord in 1580.
The Formula of Concord dealt with a number of topics which cover a number of the problems of today - ignored by the vast number of apostate and agnostic clergy leaders today.
"Conservative" Lutherans today (WELS-ELS-LCMS-CLC) sneer at these two passages from the Augsburg Confession, which they claim to follow.
But - of course! - CFW Walther, his gang, and the syphilitic Bishop Martin Stephan - all knew that everyone is born forgiven and saved. Dr. Lito Cruz asked, "If a baby is born forgiven, how does he know?"
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| The 1580 title page of the Book of Concord, Dresden, is not especially helpful for moderns, not that they value the English version. ELCA co-published one edition with the LCMS. Why? |
