Monday, October 17, 2022

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 17th of October, 2022. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A happy Monday- we will head to the mailbag in just a second. It was a real treat to meet many of you this past weekend- I’m always blown away to hear that this little show has made its way into so many people's lives- as they make coffee, sit in the pool with a glass of wine (that’s Mr. and Mrs. Klembera) or if you were one of the dozen who pointed out the Keith Green episode in particular- It’s great to see you all- for the live program I did two live almanac episodes, a short story and then a 40 deeper dive in the form of a top 10 list. Check-in at 1517.org soon, and you’ll be able to watch that and see how much I wave my hands around.

Secondly- and tied to that and the show today, I noticed two things: we are a more diverse body than we used to be. There were Christians of all sorts at the conference, and sometimes Lutherans talk in a shorthand that others might not get (this isn’t just Lutherans, but in this case, it is). And this takes me to the mailbag today.

Dan,

Just sunk in that Christopher Gillespie is the pastor of a church with “unaltered, Augsburg confession” in its name.

Unless you were joking, could you interview Christopher and ask him about that unaltered Augsburg confession stuff?

Wondering in Winnipeg, your dutiful listener,

Peter.

Well, I just saw Christopher and could have asked him, but I have come home now- but I know a thing or two about this.

But I’ve got this, Peter from Winnipeg- home again to the Jets- and fun fact, it was a Canadien from Winnipeg who bought a bear while in England during WWI- he named it Winnie for his hometown of Winnipeg, he gave the bear to the zoo, Christopher Robin saw the bear, voila, Winnie the Pooh Winnipeg.

OK, Peter, Christopher does indeed go to a church with the title “Unaltered Augsburg Confession,” and this is a big deal- but to get to it, we need to understand something about the Lutherans.

The Lutherans, like many new religious movements, relied on the strong personality of Martin Luther- his legacy is… well, they’re called Lutherans! And try suggesting that Luther may or may not have said something at a conference. Woo boy!

But the Lutherans realized that a church couldn’t exist on the strength of a personality alone- and so since 1530, the Lutherans have been organizing around statements, or “confessions” of faith. When you hear someone say they are a “confessional Lutheran,” they signal their defense of this historic practice. It was in 1580 that the Lutherans, decades after Luther’s death, decided to codify their beliefs. This Book of Concord (Concord means agreement) would be:

The Three historical Creeds: Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, the Augsburg Confession, a separate defense of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles (written by Luther), a document on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, both Luther’s small and large catechism and the Formula of Concord- once as Epitome once as Solid Declaration.

The Augsburg confession was the first Lutheran Confession of Faith (and the first of several confessions written throughout the Reformation). It was written by Philip Melanchthon- Luther’s friend and the systematizer of Lutheran theology.

But Melanchthon was doing two things that worried some of his friends: he always tried to edit and update his works and sought every possible way to unify the Lutheran and Reformed churches.

Melanchthon most certainly revised his Augsburg Confession, but after it was formally signed and accepted by princes and parishes, it wasn’t up to one man to edit. Secondly, while some will argue that Melanchthon’s variations don’t essentially change any doctrine (he claimed the edits were for ease of understanding), this was in his period where he had changed his mind on some doctrines and was courting the Reformed- it appears he used language that could also be acceptable to the Swiss.

So- when you say of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, you are pointing out not only your confession of faith (and that that is important to you) but also that you are not one of those “Phillipists”- or perceived wishy-washy Lutheran but one that holds to the original text.

The Last Word for today comes from the lectionary for today from Psalm 129- from the songs of Ascent:

“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
 let Israel say;

“they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
 but they have not gained the victory over me.

Plowmen have plowed my back
 and made their furrows long.

But the Lord is righteous;
 he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 17th of October 2022, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a Man who knows Winnipeg as the home of the late Pro Wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper- he’s here to chew bubblegum and produce this show- but he’s all out of bubblegum. He is Christoper Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who reminds you that Winnie the Pooh is now in the public domain and in a new horror movie called “Blood and Honey,” for reals. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.