Augsburg Confession

Augsburg Confession (1530), the most widely accepted specifically Lutheran confession, or statement of faith. It was prepared by the German religious reformer Melanchthon, with Martin Luther's approval, as a summary document for the German nobility, who were called to a diet at Augsburg on June 25, 1530, by the Holy Roman emperor Charles V to present their “Lutheran” views.

Rejected there (see Reformation), and later amended, the confession—together with the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds and Luther's Small Catechism and Large Catechism—constitutes the creedal basis for almost 80 million Lutheran Christians. The Augsburg Confession has been translated into most major languages and many dialects and in its original form is part of the constitution of most Lutheran churches. Lutheran clergy are frequently required to subscribe to it prior to ordination.

In its modern form the Augsburg Confession consists of 28 articles. The first 21 summarize Lutheran doctrine with special emphasis on justification. The second part of the Augsburg Confession reviews the “abuses” for which remedy was demanded, such as withholding the cup from the laity in Holy Communion and forbidding priests to marry.

Because of its conciliatory tone and brevity, the Augsburg Confession affected the entire Reformation movement, especially in such manifestations as the Anglican Thirty-nine Articles and the theology of the French religious reformer John Calvin, who signed a later version in 1540. In more recent times it has been the basis of fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Roman Catholics and Lutherans.

See also Creeds; Melanchthon.