BOOK REPORT

The Lutheran Confessions: History and Theology of The Book of Concord



The Lutheran Confessions: History and Theology of The Book of Concord

Introduction

This paper intends to present the book review of The Lutheran Confessions History and Theology of the Book of Concord which is the master piece of Charles Arand, Robert Kolb and James Nestingen published in 2012. This book is enriched with the treasure of information about the historic doctrinal standards pertaining to Lutheranism. The book is the great source and comprehensive compilation of Lutheran history and the other norms of Christian doctrine.

The book is divided in to three parts and comprised of total fifteen chapters. The part one is about the ecumenical creeds, the part two presents the Wittenberg confessions, Luther's and Melanchthon's confessions of the faith, and however, the last part deals with the formula of Concord. The third part of the book is the longest part as it covers myriad subjects pertaining to theological tensions among the followers of Luther, numerous controversies, efforts of attaining the Concord, and the reactions to the formula of Concord.

In short, the study highlights the complete historical background of the Lutheranism in the great detail expounding the copious events that hold the great importance in understanding the concept and history of Lutheran confessions and theology. The book has the great grip over the history of theology as it has covered complete information and record of that time.

Discussion

This book signifies the ancient phenomenon with more clarity that serve as the source of knowledge to the readers who can be benefitted through the study of this book. The authors of the book have highlighted the Lutheranism which is the key branch of Western Christianity which actually signifies the theology of Martin Luther. The study includes the faithful and authoritative explanations of Lutherans and the Holy Scriptures that aim to articulate the Lutheran theology in the Reformation era. The authors of the book extenuated the phenomenon of public confession of truth and the reality as according to them the religion attempts to create the sense of awe and reverence which binds the life of people with the truth and faith on their systems. According to Christians' point of view, this system is called as the belief system which does not regard public confession of what they think is significant however, on the other hand, the Lutherans define their way of life in concordance with the public confession where they have a strong faith in Jesus Christ. Hence, the historians expound the systems in defining the reality and guiding the humans to successfully live within their shared elements of reality. These shared elements are six which include the doctrine or teaching, ritual, narratives, ethics, personal faith and the community which are the essence of binding the lives of people together. However, according to historians that each religion has some form or combinations of these elements that make them different from others and these different elements attempts to orient the entire procedure of reality through ...