Book of Concord Website Additions

We previously announced here about the update to the Book of Concord website, and how excited we are with the new look. Much has happened since our initial announcement, including (hopefully) an even easier to read and navigate layout. We have reorganized the sidebar items and think we have a fairly logical ordering now. Of course, we may not be seeing the forest due to looking too carefully at the trees, but .. we continue to ask your opinion of that.

Other exciting things that have been added are the addition of the Roman Confutation, which was the Roman response to the Augsburg Confession. We’ve added a feature where you can read an article in the Confession, then click through to read the roman response to that, then click through to read the Apology section on the same topic.

Added just this weekend is the entire German Book of Concord; for those german readers out there here is your online source! Searching will work as soon as the search engines find the new pages on the website.

We’ve also added the following documents, which help to give historical context to the whole time. Whe are in the process of adding introductions to each of the documents, stating why this was important at the time and giving a little bit of history of the time. The documents added are:

Luther’s 95 Theses
The 95 theses along with an editor’s introduction to help understand why and where they were posted.

Exsurge Domine, 1520
This Papal Bull set forth Rome’s case against Luther and pointed out his perceived errors.

Excommunication of Luther, 1521
This is the actual Papal excommunication of Luther and all his followers, along with a photo of the document itself.

Johann Eck’s 404 Theses, 1530
This document was, in large part, responsible for final content of the Augsburg Confession. Eck prepared this recounting of alleged heresies of Luther and other reformers, and his accusations were answered by the Augsburg Confession. It is a very interesting look into the mind of the Roman opponents of Luther. An excellent introduction and explanation by Henry Eyster Jacobs accompanies the translation.

Martin Luther’s Exhortation to the Clergy in Augsburg, 1530
This was the first document that Luther prepared at his quarters at the Coburg Fortress, after his colleagues and the Lutheran princes went on to Augsburg, for the Diet. It has been called “Luther’s Augsburg Confession.” We have a few photos up of the Coburg Fortress and Luther’s room there.

The Confutation of the Augsburg Confession, 1530
This was the Roman response to the Augsburg Confession, the document to which the Apology of the Augsburg Confession is replying.

The Consensus Tigurinus, 1549
John Calvin prepared this document as a statement intended to unify various strands in the Reformed movement. It conclusively demonstrates and proves that Calvinism is very much in favor of a spiritualizing interpretation of the Words of Institution and places Calvinism in the stream of Zwinglianism. Comments and expressions in this document are specifically repudiated by the Formula of Concord.

The Saxon Visitation Articles, 1592
The most concise and explicit rejection of Calvinism by Lutherans. These articles were prepared, and used, to rid Saxony of infiltrating Calvinists. It was included in all editions of the Book of Concord published in Germany, from 1592 until the Prussian Union of 1817.


The RSS feed on the site will keep you informed of new items added to the site, as well as containing the daily readings for the Book of Concord. Be sure to subscribe to this to keep informed of future developments!

Please get your ideas or suggestions to us by email or as a comment on this article! This fits right in with the goals of BJS — helping people to read the Book of Concord and understand the context of the times!

In Christ,
Norm Fisher

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.