Encore Post:
Most people think of October 31st, 1517, as the date of the founding of the Lutheran Church. However, Martin Luther and most Lutheran historians disagree. On the day that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses, he was very much a Catholic. In fact, on this day, Luther was upset that people did not have to suffer enough for their sins and were being let off the hook way too easily. You could say he was more Catholic than the Pope. Considering the nature of Pope Leo X, he was.
On the first Reformation Day, the Reformation was just beginning. We only begin to recognize Luther’s complete theology in his writings from 1520 onward. And it really wasn’t until 1529 that the reformers and their princes thought of the Lutheran tradition as a separate faith.
Emperor Charles V had many problems in 1529. The Turkish Empire of Suleiman the Great had invaded Austria and laid siege to Vienna. France and the Pope were constantly challenging his authority in southern Europe. He badly wanted to unify his German territories under Roman Catholic control. So he called all the territories together at Augsburg for a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire.
Elector John of Saxony, Luther’s Prince, commissioned Luther and his friends to create a unified statement of the disputes between the Pope and the Lutheran territories. The result was a document called the Augsburg Confession. All the Lutheran princes who attended the Diet of Augsburg signed the document as their own faith.
On June 25th, 1530, the Augsburg Confession was presented to Charles V by the Lutheran princes. To this day, June 25th is known as the birthday of the Lutheran Church.
As time passed, the Augsburg Confession gained acceptance in Lutheran territories and among theologians. It became the standard for what we believe and confess, and it remained so. Today, every Lutheran Pastor pledges to teach according to the Augsburg Confession and the other documents in the Book of Concord of 1580.
Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog
The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
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