Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions -- A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord

INTROQ: What is the Book of Concord?A: The Book of Concord contains documents which Christians from the fourth to the 16th century A.D. explained what they believed and taught on the basis of the Holy Scriptures. It includes, first, the three creeds which originated in the ancient church, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. It contains, secondly, the Reformation writings known as the Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, Luther's Small and Large Catechisms, and the Formula of Concord.The Catechisms and the Smalcald Articles came from the pen of Martin Luther; the Augsburg Confession, its Apology, and the Treatise were written by Luther's co-worker, the scholarly Phillip Melanchthon; the Formula of Concord was given its final form chiefly by Jacob Andreae, Martin Chemnitz, and Nickolaus Selnecker.PUBLISHER:Concordia Publishing House or CPH.org (publishing arm of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) has published the "Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions -- A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord" in 2007. The Book of Concord is also available (thanks to CPH.org) in Kindle format or pocket-size paperback. This edition has a lot of extra notes and drawings. Once a year CPH.org will have a deep discount on this edition including a CD-ROM.CONTENT:- The Three Universal or Ecumenical Creeds- The Augsburg Confession (1530)- The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)- The Smalcald Articles (1537)- The Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537)- The Small Catechism (1529)- The Large Catechism (1529)- The Formula of Concord, Epitome (1577)- The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration (1577)For questions on what the importance of these chapters/declarations/confessions mean please see the FAQ at [...]CONCLUSION:Lutherans "accept without reservation the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and of practice," and many Lutherans also believe that all the writings in the Book of Concord as "a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God" (LCMS Constitution II). This handy and traveler-friendly book is a rich resource of spiritual food - it teaches and confesses that in Christ alone is there salvation -- by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of Scripture alone.

The book came the next day and in perfect shape. This version is great for anyone new to Lutheranism and is great companion to your bible and Lutheran Service book."The Christian Book of Concord contains documents in which Christians from the fourth to the 16th century A.D. explained what they believed and taught on the basis of the Holy Scriptures."

This book has importance for all Christians and would be a good book to have on hand.

Beautiful book every Christian should have

So easy to read and comfortable to hold. It's almost like family!

Excellent Quality.

I once borrowed a copy of the Concordia from my former pastor when I was still fairly new to Lutheranism, but I found it very difficult to get through. At the time I knew almost nothing of the historical setting of the later documents (pretty much everything newer than the creeds), and I gave up reading it and returned it barely used. Now, years later, I want desperately to read these. After all, I claim to be a confessional Lutheran, yet I haven't read all the confessions!! Want to read the confessions? This is the Concordia for you! Lots of great features in this book.First, there is a handy reader's guide that breaks it down into manageable daily chunks of reading that even busy people can get through with ease. You don't have to read every day, but if you did, you could easily get through the book in one year following the plan.Each section begins with a brief introduction that touches on the author, the historical setting, and explains why the document was written, and who its intended target was at the time of its writing. It helps to understand that many of these are in response to specific errors, or to grave but specific situations at the time. Notice I said the introductions were brief--this is important, because I don't want the intro to take me longer to slog through than the documents themselves. Just some quick info and then let me get on with it--if I want a full dissertation on the subject, I'll research further on my own. To me, these intros are just right.The text is a good size that won't strain the eye, but the book remains a reasonable size that is easy to manage and to take with you if you want to read on a longer car trip, which I did recently. The margins are generous if you, like me, learn better by peppering your books with copious amounts of marginalia.Definitely would recommend this book both to Lutherans wanting to understand their own confessions better, and to non-Lutherans wanting to know what we're all about.

I LOVED this spiral bound edition. I studied this from September 2021 through May 2022 and wrote on every single page. It was SO good to go back to my roots. I read it along with my 1970's edition of the catechism and the Large Catechism. The scripture reference index in the back is going to be useful as I do other studies and be able to refer back to my notes in the margins of this spiral bound version.

Gifted my son with this book, as he is becoming a pastor in the Lutheran faith and he was extremely happy to receive this book ... and thus it made me extremely happy too!

This is a well produced and presented version of the confessions

The Book of Concord can be daunting to confront for the first time, but this Reader's Edition made it easy to understand and the commentary filled in the gaps which are inevitable for 21st century readers consuming a 400+ year old text.The book was beautifully printed, with interesting illustrations and an ordered but interesting formatting.

I am a layman and I think this book is helpful to me. The Reformers who wrote this book were all very good writers who can explain theology in a way that I can understand.