a Lutheran’s Confessions

(The following is quoted from our Synod’s website.)

“The year was 1530. The day, June 25. The location was the imperial city of Augsburg in southern Germany. Emperor Charles V had summoned ‘protesting’ churches in Europe to appear and give a defense of their teaching.”
“The gathering in Augsburg was a watershed event for Lutheranism, for it provided a forum for a public confession of the faith. ‘Our churches teach with great unanimity…’—these are the bold and confident words that began the Augsburg Confession. The words of the psalmist took on new meaning, ‘I will speak of Thy testimonies before kings and will not be put to shame’ (Psalm 119:46). And ever since, the Lutheran church has recognized the necessity of confession the true faith.”
“But why commemorate and event that took place so long ago? Precisely because the true faith still needs to be confessed. The Word of God and its faithful interpretation is under attack from every side. Increasingly our culture tries to convince us that truth is relative and changing. In the face of such opposition, we can find encouragement from the examples of those confessors at Augsburg—princes, mayors and city councilmen—who confessed the true Gospel in the face of imperial and ecclesiastical opposition. They were willing to die rather than deny the truth.”