confessional lutheranism
Started reading the Book of Concord at work today. It’s funny because I work for Concordia Supply and they used to be a Lutheran company. So far, the book has been excellent and I highly respect the importance they place on confessional Christianity. Here is one of my favorite parts from the introduction. Replace the Lutheran theology with Reformed and I would completely affirm what they had to say:
Rev. Dr. C. F. W. Walther explained how important the Book of Concord is for all Lutherans.
‘“The Book of Concord should be in every Lutheran home. For that reason our Church should provide a good, inexpensive copy, and pastors should see to it that every home has one. . . . If a person isn’t familiar with this book, he’ll think, “That old book is just for pastors. I don’t have to preach. After working all day, I can’t sit down and study in the evening. If I read my morning and evening devotions, that’s enough.” No, that is not enough! The Lord doesn’t want us to remain children, who are blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine; instead of that, He wants us to grow in knowledge so that we can teach others.’”
This is not just a book for pastors and church “professionals” or “academics.” In fact, it is important to realize that the people most directly responsible for the Lutheran Confessions were laymen, not pastors and theologians. At tremendous personal risk to their own lives, their property, and their profession, laymen bodly stepped before the emperor and the pope’s representatives. They asserted that these Confessions were their own. They did not back down or compromise. For this reason, it is unfortunate that down through the years the Book of Concord has come to be regarded more as a book for pastors and professional theologians.
Tucked into the middle of the book is the most widely used of all the Lutheran Confessions: Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Luther wrote this document not simply as a resource for the church and schol, but, first and foremost, for the head of the household. Luther intended this little book to be used by laypeople, daily, to help them remain anchored to the solid teachings of God’s holy Word, the Bible. So keep this important fact in mind: The Book of Concord exists because of the faith and conviction of laypeople, who risked their very lives in order to have these Confessions produced, published, and distributed. The Book of Concord is a book for all Christians, church workers, and laypeople alike.
Christians who want to be true and faithful to the teachings of the Bible return, again and again, to this book. In these confessions of faith they find agreement, unity, and harmony in the truths of God’s Word. These documents never take the place of the Bible. They distinguish between what the Bible teaches and the false teachings of others, which undermine the use of God’s Word. They give Christians a common voice to confess their faith to the world.
Reaching out boldly with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the goal of the Lutheran Confessions. They are not the to be treated like museum pieces, kept under glass as interesting curiosities. Neither are they holiday decorations taken out once a year and admired, soon to be put away and forgotten. Nor are the Lutheran Confessions clubs used to bash people or shields to prevent contact with others or trophies set on a shelf. The Lutheran Confessions are resources for extending and defending vigorously the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are powerful tools for everyone to use, in all circumstances, for preaching, teaching, and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all the truths of God’s Word in the church, school, home, workplace, community, and throughout the world.
Lutherans particularly enjoy “Concordia” through these confessions. United in common conviction aobut God’s Word, they live together with a common hearbeat, declaring to the world and to one another, “This is what we believe, teach, and confess.”
daily reading
| July 22, 2025 |
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| Gen. 21; Matt. 20; Neh. 10; Acts 20 |
| WLC 186-189 |
| The Chalcedonian Definition |