Charles P. Arand

I had Drs. Arand and Kolb at the Seminary and this book would have been helpful to have then, as they covered a lot of this material. I've also heard Dr. Nestingen speak and he is always delightful. In covering the historical development of the documents in the Book of Concord, and how the political and religious atmosphere shaped those documents and how those documents shaped the political and religious environment, the book shows how remarkable and important the Book of Concord is. And in show more our "anything-goes" 21st century, how remarkable to go back to a time when people were willing to fight for their religious beliefs. A remarkable and enjoyable book that help understand and appreciate the Book of Concord even more. show less

Contents: Introduction: The Book of Concord, a confessing of the faith -- Part 1. The ecumenical creeds. A history of the ancient creedal texts : Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian -- The theological contributions of the ancient creeds -- Part 2. The Wittenberg confessions, Luther's and Melanchthon's confessions of the faith. Luther's Small and Large catechisms -- The Augsburg confession -- The Apology of the Augsburg confession -- The Smalcald articles and the Treatise on the power and show more primacy of the Pope -- Part 3. The Formula of Concord. Theological tensions among Luther's followers before his death -- The "culture of controversy" : the Smalcald War, the "Interims," and the adiaphoristic controversy -- The majoristic and "antinomian" controversies -- The synergistic controversies, the controversy over original sin, and the doctrine of election in the late Reformation -- The Osiandrian controversy over the righteousness that avails before God -- The controversies over the Lord's Supper and christology -- Efforts at attaining concord, 1552-1569 -- Jakob Andreae's drive for Lutheran unity and the composition of the Formula of Concord and the Book of Concord -- Reactions to the Formula of Concord in the 1580s. show less