My website: www.JordanBCoop... Patreon: / justandsinner In this video, Rev. Cooper discusses the Book of Concord, the confessional documents of the Lutheran church.
I recently met two LCMS pastors that have a mission here in Puerto Rico. I am 99% at the level to accept the confessions and become Lutheran. It's a beautiful combination of Holy Tradition with Scripture, without negating the Word of God due to Tradition, but also without removing good Tradition in the name of a false piety.
Hi there! I'm also from Puerto Rico (Arecibo). Was raised as a Pentecostal, and am now very much interested in Lutheran theology. Is there a way I could contact them or any local LCMS pastors. Thank you and God bless
I am convinced of the correctness of Lutheranism. Now, I need to convince my wife...and her brother, our senior elder at the non-denominational mega Church we attend, so that we can join the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. It will not be an easy task; they were both raised in that Church. My wife and I were married by a pastor of that Church. But that Church does not teach the fullness of the gospel and I cannot in good conscience stay where the gospel is faithfully preached but the sacraments are ignored as anything other than dead, empty symbols. I also cannot abandon my wife, and I doubt she will leave without her older brother. Please pray for me, that God would grant me patience, gentleness, meekness and persuasiveness in my discussions with my family. And please pray for them, that God would open their hearts and illuminate their minds in the same way that he opened my heart and illuminated my mind. May God have mercy on us and bless us.
Praying for you Andrew that God will give you the tools & the words to show your wife, her, brother, & the elder the truth of the Lutheran Church. And I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts and minds to see the fullness of the Gospel in the teachings of the Lutheran Church. 🙏🏻
@bobbycecere1037 well probably because he believes they are not unbiblical. That's why we have the Book of Concord-to show that the Lutheran faith is the one that aligns itself to scripture
My copy of the Book of Concord just arrived today. I told you I was investigating! I opened it up to page 114. “Now we will reply to those passages that the adversaries quote in order to prove you are justified by love and works.” Sounds like a reply to John Piper.
I'm a Calvinist who is considering Lutheranism, and your videos are helping me understand this stuff a lot. I'll be purchasing this book soon. Thank you!
For clarity, an excerpt from John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 21, Paragraph 7: "We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his PLEASURE one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his PLEASURE to doom to destruction." For biblical reference, Ezekiel, Chapter 18, Verses 23, 32 (ESV): "Have I any PLEASURE in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? ... For I have NO PLEASURE in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
@@noahm44 Then you are aware that in the preface to the 1545 French edition published in Geneva, John Calvin stated that (1) God, not Calvin, was the actual author of the Institutes and therefore (2) the Institutes should be memorized first before reading the Bible so that the reading of the latter might then become "profitable" (Beveridge translation).
Thank you, Dr. Cooper, for your most helpful advice. I was raised a Roman Catholic but started going to Lutheran services a few months back. I want to grow in my faith and learn some more (at least) about what it truly means to be a Lutheran. The Book of Concord is definitely on my list. God bless.
Love this breakdown and teaching. As someone who grew up LCMS, left and went into the charismatic then came back I'm falling in love again with my Lutheran roots all over again
1) Embedded in the Lutheran Confession of Faith are Martin Luther's Smalcald Articles, composed in 1537, which includes this pronouncement at 2:4:10, 14: “[T]he pope is the real Antichrist who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ . . . Accordingly, just as we cannot adore the devil himself as our lord or God, so we cannot suffer his apostle, the pope or Antichrist, to govern us as our head or lord.” 2) Eight years later in 1545 and one year before his death, so important did he consider this teaching that Martin Luther would elaborate on the Pope as the Antichrist in his final written testament, Against the Roman Papacy: An Institution of the Devil. In this quote Martin Luther is personally addressing the Pope: "I would not dream of judging or punishing you, except to say that you were born from the behind of the devil, are full of devils, lies, blasphemy, and idolatry; are the instigator of these things, God’s enemy, Antichrist, desolater of Christendom, and steward of Sodom." -From Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil, pg. 363 of Luther’s Works, Vol. 41 www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2017/10/21/martin-luther-the-insults/
Thank you so much for your ministry. It saved me from the pitfall of despair trying to understand predestination. I was so convinced that election is real since the Bible clearly teaches it that I nearly fell into the clutches of Calvinism. God bless them but the Westminster Confession claims that they believe in secondary causes, but honestly I think the religion as written (not practiced) is a hair away from Fatalism. Thank you for pointing me to the works of Luther. I find him much more gentle than he is characterized as. He was a man with a big heart and ambition. Who was not afraid to tell it as he saw, which is so refreshing to read in an age of relativism.
Would you please do a short lesson on Augustinian theology as it supports Lutheranism? Both Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism recognize Augustine’s importance but his volumes are immense for a beginner trying to understand his fundamentals. Thank you!
I'm thinking about becoming a Lutheran. I've been to a few different denominations over the years and nothing really kept me. This I think I can get into.
A confession of faith is not a summary of Biblical teaching. It's a summary of your chosen interpretation of Biblical teaching. Your preferred Doctrine and Dogma. If it was what you were claiming there wouldn't be multiple confessions of faith across the denominations. Methodists have the book of discipline, you have the book of Concord, Catholics have entire libraries filled with thier doctrine. It's not supposed to replace scripture but depending on how far your dogma deviates from the word, it certainly can. Have a look at Catholicism. They have entire bodies of belief that exists only in their confessionals.
One thing that I still wonder after all these years of being Lutheran is how does the Book of Concord affect what I as a layman believe. For example, I believe that the Apocrypha carries a lot more doctrinal weight than many Lutheran clergymen believe of it, especially really prophetical books like Baruch, or deeply doctrinal ones like Sirach. Does that say anything about me, not as preacher, but preached-to?
The authors of the Concord should unite Lutherans but they do not denominationally agree. An ironic title. The Concord has unfortunately not established concord.
It is ironic that here in Germany it is not so easy to buy the Book of Concord. As far as I know there is only one single edition available which is rather expensive, and the publisher did not even name it the Book of Concord but "Our Faith".
We Catholics also believe that the Church needs an authoritative explanation of what Scripture says, because without it the multiplication of particular contradictory opinions has no limits. And of course we also believe that only Scripture is the word of God. That is why we also believe that only a divinely instituted authority can give us that authoritative explanation of Scripture.
That would make more sense if history wasnt littered with Popes saying and doing absolutely disgusting asinine things. Vicar of christ.....I dont think so.
I converted to the Catholic faith 9 years ago and what you are saying is not true. “Only” scripture is not the Catholic worldview. The magisterium and oral Tradition holds equal weight with the Bible in the Catholic faith (sometimes trumping it some would argue) My faith in Catholicism has crumbled once I saw first hand where this form of “spirituality” leads. The results are pretty bad depending on the individual
This is probably why I appreciate the Anglican approach. The Anglicans have dogma without crossing as many T's or dotting as many I's. Far less than the Catholic, orthodox, and Lutheran, and probably notably less than even modern angelical denominations and groups. There are many things that are taught from scripture with irritating phrases like: it is clear that; it is obviousp that; Anyone can see that. These are insulting phrases. More often than not, That claimed to be clear is not stated in scripture clearly at all. If we stick with what is clear, our systematic Theologies would be booklets, not textbooks.
I'm curious 🤔 Does Calvinism have a similar confessional? An extra biblical source that explains their preferred dogma and Doctrine? I bet they do. I've only been studying denominations for a little while, but this appears to be very common.
Actually, unlike the other two historical tradition of protestantism (namely Lutheranism and Anglicanism) , there is no one document which alone define the body of beliefs of the Reformed Tradition, unlike the Ausburg confession for Lutherans and the XXXIX articles for Anglicans. Instead, there is a lot of Confessions which have been written during the XVIth century or later, each made to unite a Church in a specific area like, England, France, or Switzerland. The confessions can be divided in two groups really : - The ones written on the continent : the Confession of la Rochelle for France, the Confessio Belgica for the Netherlands and Belgium, and the later 2nd Helvetic Confession for Switzerland. - On the British Isles, the Scottish Confession, for the eponymous nation, and the Westminster Confession for the English-speaking Reformed. That seem like a mess, but actually, each one of theses Confession are in full agreements with each other, so if you fully agree with the content of one of them, you're in full communion with any Churches which uphold one of theses. Now, The Westminster Confession, and all the documents which are included in the Westminster Standard are a very popular confessional for defining Reformed doctrines around the world because, well, we live in an english world don't we ? However it should be noted that the only Council that united all the aforementioned Reformed Churches is the synod of Dort, which established the Confessio Belgica, the Heidelberg Catechism and the "Canons of Dorts" as the three documents which define Reformed doctrines. Theses 3 documents, knows as the "3 forms of unity", are the only documents to have received an "oecumenical" official approval. Yet, I think the most well-done and most useful of all confession is the 2nd Helvetic Confession, it's the most complete and well defended of all reformed confessions to the best of my knowledge. You're getting an answer from me very late, I wonder if you remembered this comment, nevertheless I wish you to be blessed by the Lord of peace !
The problem with documents like this is that they are, in essence, systematic theologies. And a systematic theology becomes THE hermeneutic to supposedly understand the Bible correctly. What can make this more problematic is how dogmatic such systematic theologies become. The R. Catholic Church dogmatizes their entire system. It seems that most, if not all, denominations more or less dogmatize their systematic theology, that is, they dogmatize their hermeneutic.
joseph faulkner They say that they honor the BoC but only insofar as they feel it is right. However, a Confessional Lutheran would say that the BoC should be held to fully because it is a right interpretation of the Scriptures.
I don't know the ELCAs official dogmatic opinion. But many of their clergy treat that the Bible is not infallible. They say that truth is found in it, but not all of it is the truth, so they pick out the teachings they believe to be correct. The Book of a concord treats the entire scripture as infallible. So no, the ELCA does not hold to the Book of Concord
@@angelbonilla2255 Literally look it up. The "church" approves of gay-marriage, female priests, and other such absurdities. And notice how I said, "many of their clergy." This isnt a generalization, I am stating an obvious fact that most of all ELCA "Lutherans" (Even tho Luther would hate them) are liberal and modernistic. Most conservative Lutherans have fled to either the LCMS, WELS, or the Papacy.
@@angelbonilla2255 any orthodox believer in the ELCA needs to go away from it, as eventually your church will end up accepting gay and female "clergy".
*The Book of Concord: "The Word of God is and should remain the sole rule and norm of all doctrine”* Open your bible to the table of contents, the list of both the New and Old Testament books. That these books are scripture, and no others, is repeated doctrine. Question is where in the Written Word of God does one find this list ? And if this list is not found in scripture, is the statement above remain true or is it false?
I disagree. Many Lutherans do not hold to the literal beliefs found in the book on Concord. It is a relic of our faith, it shows the theological journey of Luther, but it holds no binding authority over my faith as a Lutheran. It is just like the Bible, the Quran or any other book about faith, it is a guide, not the end of the journey.
If the Bible, as a document, was sufficient as a source of Christian doctrine, then it would not be the very cause of so much division from otherwise honest people who are simply trying to get at the truth.
+John6forty-eight The authors did not ere in regards to their confession. What is preserved in the Book of Concord lines up with what Scripture teaches. If you want to dispute this, give me an example of where Scripture contradicts the confessions.
I recently met two LCMS pastors that have a mission here in Puerto Rico. I am 99% at the level to accept the confessions and become Lutheran. It's a beautiful combination of Holy Tradition with Scripture, without negating the Word of God due to Tradition, but also without removing good Tradition in the name of a false piety.
Hi there! I'm also from Puerto Rico (Arecibo). Was raised as a Pentecostal, and am now very much interested in Lutheran theology. Is there a way I could contact them or any local LCMS pastors. Thank you and God bless
This book made me a Lutheran; a long time Calvist. Thank God for this great priceless book. God's peace be with you.
I am convinced of the correctness of Lutheranism. Now, I need to convince my wife...and her brother, our senior elder at the non-denominational mega Church we attend, so that we can join the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. It will not be an easy task; they were both raised in that Church. My wife and I were married by a pastor of that Church. But that Church does not teach the fullness of the gospel and I cannot in good conscience stay where the gospel is faithfully preached but the sacraments are ignored as anything other than dead, empty symbols. I also cannot abandon my wife, and I doubt she will leave without her older brother. Please pray for me, that God would grant me patience, gentleness, meekness and persuasiveness in my discussions with my family. And please pray for them, that God would open their hearts and illuminate their minds in the same way that he opened my heart and illuminated my mind. May God have mercy on us and bless us.
Praying for you Andrew that God will give you the tools & the words to show your wife, her, brother, & the elder the truth of the Lutheran Church. And I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts and minds to see the fullness of the Gospel in the teachings of the Lutheran Church. 🙏🏻
Why would you believe that extra-biblical items & rituals would have any impact on a Christians acceptable worship??
I'm genuinely curious.
@bobbycecere1037 well probably because he believes they are not unbiblical. That's why we have the Book of Concord-to show that the Lutheran faith is the one that aligns itself to scripture
My copy of the Book of Concord just arrived today. I told you I was investigating! I opened it up to page 114. “Now we will reply to those passages that the adversaries quote in order to prove you are justified by love and works.” Sounds like a reply to John Piper.
I'm a Calvinist who is considering Lutheranism, and your videos are helping me understand this stuff a lot. I'll be purchasing this book soon. Thank you!
For clarity, an excerpt from John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 21, Paragraph 7:
"We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his PLEASURE one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his PLEASURE to doom to destruction."
For biblical reference, Ezekiel, Chapter 18, Verses 23, 32 (ESV):
"Have I any PLEASURE in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? ... For I have NO PLEASURE in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
@@annakimborahpaYup, we've read the institutes. I used to be a Calvinist.
@@noahm44 Then you are aware that in the preface to the 1545 French edition published in Geneva, John Calvin stated that (1) God, not Calvin, was the actual author of the Institutes and therefore (2) the Institutes should be memorized first before reading the Bible so that the reading of the latter might then become "profitable" (Beveridge translation).
Thank you, Dr. Cooper, for your most helpful advice. I was raised a Roman Catholic but started going to Lutheran services a few months back. I want to grow in my faith and learn some more (at least) about what it truly means to be a Lutheran. The Book of Concord is definitely on my list. God bless.
I was raised Pentecostal and the book has helped me tremendously.
Love this breakdown and teaching. As someone who grew up LCMS, left and went into the charismatic then came back I'm falling in love again with my Lutheran roots all over again
1) Embedded in the Lutheran Confession of Faith are Martin Luther's Smalcald Articles, composed in 1537, which includes this pronouncement at 2:4:10, 14: “[T]he pope is the real Antichrist who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ . . . Accordingly, just as we cannot adore the devil himself as our lord or God, so we cannot suffer his apostle, the pope or Antichrist, to govern us as our head or lord.”
2) Eight years later in 1545 and one year before his death, so important did he consider this teaching that Martin Luther would elaborate on the Pope as the Antichrist in his final written testament, Against the Roman Papacy: An Institution of the Devil. In this quote Martin Luther is personally addressing the Pope: "I would not dream of judging or punishing you, except to say that you were born from the behind of the devil, are full of devils, lies, blasphemy, and idolatry; are the instigator of these things, God’s enemy, Antichrist, desolater of Christendom, and steward of Sodom."
-From Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil, pg. 363 of Luther’s Works, Vol. 41
www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2017/10/21/martin-luther-the-insults/
Very helpful outline. Thank you, Dr. Cooper.
Thank you Rev Cooper!
Thank you so much for your ministry. It saved me from the pitfall of despair trying to understand predestination. I was so convinced that election is real since the Bible clearly teaches it that I nearly fell into the clutches of Calvinism. God bless them but the Westminster Confession claims that they believe in secondary causes, but honestly I think the religion as written (not practiced) is a hair away from Fatalism. Thank you for pointing me to the works of Luther. I find him much more gentle than he is characterized as. He was a man with a big heart and ambition. Who was not afraid to tell it as he saw, which is so refreshing to read in an age of relativism.
Would you please do a short lesson on Augustinian theology as it supports Lutheranism? Both Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism recognize Augustine’s importance but his volumes are immense for a beginner trying to understand his fundamentals. Thank you!
that's a great idea
Go ask your husband
I'm thinking about becoming a Lutheran. I've been to a few different denominations over the years and nothing really kept me. This I think I can get into.
Excellent description of the Book of CONCORD! Thank you, Dr. Jordam.
Congratulations on 30k.
Excellent video.
A confession of faith is not a summary of Biblical teaching. It's a summary of your chosen interpretation of Biblical teaching.
Your preferred Doctrine and Dogma.
If it was what you were claiming there wouldn't be multiple confessions of faith across the denominations.
Methodists have the book of discipline, you have the book of Concord, Catholics have entire libraries filled with thier doctrine.
It's not supposed to replace scripture but depending on how far your dogma deviates from the word, it certainly can.
Have a look at Catholicism.
They have entire bodies of belief that exists only in their confessionals.
One thing that I still wonder after all these years of being Lutheran is how does the Book of Concord affect what I as a layman believe. For example, I believe that the Apocrypha carries a lot more doctrinal weight than many Lutheran clergymen believe of it, especially really prophetical books like Baruch, or deeply doctrinal ones like Sirach. Does that say anything about me, not as preacher, but preached-to?
I like Tobit myself, but Sirach is pretty good.
I’m an Anglican who really likes the ‘Apocrypha’-some good stuff in there.
How would you recommend a layman go through the BOC? Is it as simple as just reading through it front to back or is there a better way to go about it?
So what does a Lutheran teacher do if they think earlier interpretations got something wrong?
The authors of the Concord should unite Lutherans but they do not denominationally agree. An ironic title. The Concord has unfortunately not established concord.
It is ironic that here in Germany it is not so easy to buy the Book of Concord. As far as I know there is only one single edition available which is rather expensive, and the publisher did not even name it the Book of Concord but "Our Faith".
Which is the best, most accurate Bible version to use?? Thank you in advance!
can you a vid on kierkegaard and his rekation to lutheran faith
Great video!
Is there a Cliff's Notes version of the Book of Concord?
We Catholics also believe that the Church needs an authoritative explanation of what Scripture says, because without it the multiplication of particular contradictory opinions has no limits. And of course we also believe that only Scripture is the word of God. That is why we also believe that only a divinely instituted authority can give us that authoritative explanation of Scripture.
That would make more sense if history wasnt littered with Popes saying and doing absolutely disgusting asinine things. Vicar of christ.....I dont think so.
Nice try papist, but Christ Jesus doesn't need an interpretation
I converted to the Catholic faith 9 years ago and what you are saying is not true. “Only” scripture is not the Catholic worldview. The magisterium and oral Tradition holds equal weight with the Bible in the Catholic faith (sometimes trumping it some would argue)
My faith in Catholicism has crumbled once I saw first hand where this form of “spirituality” leads. The results are pretty bad depending on the individual
This is probably why I appreciate the Anglican approach. The Anglicans have dogma without crossing as many T's or dotting as many I's. Far less than the Catholic, orthodox, and Lutheran, and probably notably less than even modern angelical denominations and groups. There are many things that are taught from scripture with irritating phrases like: it is clear that; it is obviousp that; Anyone can see that.
These are insulting phrases. More often than not, That claimed to be clear is not stated in scripture clearly at all. If we stick with what is clear, our systematic Theologies would be booklets, not textbooks.
I'm curious 🤔
Does Calvinism have a similar confessional? An extra biblical source that explains their preferred dogma and Doctrine?
I bet they do. I've only been studying denominations for a little while, but this appears to be very common.
Yes, the most prominent are the westminster standards and three form of unity
Actually, unlike the other two historical tradition of protestantism (namely Lutheranism and Anglicanism) , there is no one document which alone define the body of beliefs of the Reformed Tradition, unlike the Ausburg confession for Lutherans and the XXXIX articles for Anglicans.
Instead, there is a lot of Confessions which have been written during the XVIth century or later, each made to unite a Church in a specific area like, England, France, or Switzerland. The confessions can be divided in two groups really :
- The ones written on the continent : the Confession of la Rochelle for France, the Confessio Belgica for the Netherlands and Belgium, and the later 2nd Helvetic Confession for Switzerland.
- On the British Isles, the Scottish Confession, for the eponymous nation, and the Westminster Confession for the English-speaking Reformed.
That seem like a mess, but actually, each one of theses Confession are in full agreements with each other, so if you fully agree with the content of one of them, you're in full communion with any Churches which uphold one of theses.
Now, The Westminster Confession, and all the documents which are included in the Westminster Standard are a very popular confessional for defining Reformed doctrines around the world because, well, we live in an english world don't we ? However it should be noted that the only Council that united all the aforementioned Reformed Churches is the synod of Dort, which established the Confessio Belgica, the Heidelberg Catechism and the "Canons of Dorts" as the three documents which define Reformed doctrines. Theses 3 documents, knows as the "3 forms of unity", are the only documents to have received an "oecumenical" official approval.
Yet, I think the most well-done and most useful of all confession is the 2nd Helvetic Confession, it's the most complete and well defended of all reformed confessions to the best of my knowledge.
You're getting an answer from me very late, I wonder if you remembered this comment, nevertheless I wish you to be blessed by the Lord of peace !
The problem with documents like this is that they are, in essence, systematic theologies. And a systematic theology becomes THE hermeneutic to supposedly understand the Bible correctly. What can make this more problematic is how dogmatic such systematic theologies become. The R. Catholic Church dogmatizes their entire system. It seems that most, if not all, denominations more or less dogmatize their systematic theology, that is, they dogmatize their hermeneutic.
Does ELCA hold to the Book of Concord?
joseph faulkner They say that they honor the BoC but only insofar as they feel it is right. However, a Confessional Lutheran would say that the BoC should be held to fully because it is a right interpretation of the Scriptures.
I don't know the ELCAs official dogmatic opinion. But many of their clergy treat that the Bible is not infallible. They say that truth is found in it, but not all of it is the truth, so they pick out the teachings they believe to be correct. The Book of a concord treats the entire scripture as infallible. So no, the ELCA does not hold to the Book of Concord
,@@sethl7078, please dont generalize about ALL ELCAs.
@@angelbonilla2255 Literally look it up. The "church" approves of gay-marriage, female priests, and other such absurdities. And notice how I said, "many of their clergy." This isnt a generalization, I am stating an obvious fact that most of all ELCA "Lutherans" (Even tho Luther would hate them) are liberal and modernistic. Most conservative Lutherans have fled to either the LCMS, WELS, or the Papacy.
@@angelbonilla2255 any orthodox believer in the ELCA needs to go away from it, as eventually your church will end up accepting gay and female "clergy".
*The Book of Concord: "The Word of God is and should remain the sole rule and norm of all doctrine”*
Open your bible to the table of contents, the list of both the New and Old Testament books. That these books are scripture, and no others, is repeated doctrine. Question is where in the Written Word of God does one find this list ? And if this list is not found in scripture, is the statement above remain true or is it false?
I disagree. Many Lutherans do not hold to the literal beliefs found in the book on Concord. It is a relic of our faith, it shows the theological journey of Luther, but it holds no binding authority over my faith as a Lutheran. It is just like the Bible, the Quran or any other book about faith, it is a guide, not the end of the journey.
If you do not believe that the bible is infallible then there is a hole, a deep hole, in your Christian faith.
Found the ELCA apostate lol
You clearly didn't watch the video. We don't put the BoC on the same level as the Bible. We use it because it lines up with the Bible
You aren't a Christian if you think the Bible is equal to the Quaran, which is a book full of heresy, and think it's just a guide.
If the Bible, as a document, was sufficient as a source of Christian doctrine, then it would not be the very cause of so much division from otherwise honest people who are simply trying to get at the truth.
You miss the fact that men are sinful and a confession is needed to curve the want of our sinful flesh to twist God's Word.
So the authors of the BoC are exempt from sinful tendencies?
+John6forty-eight Well, they are dead so...
That's not an answer to the question. The BoC was not written post mortem. . .
+John6forty-eight The authors did not ere in regards to their confession. What is preserved in the Book of Concord lines up with what Scripture teaches. If you want to dispute this, give me an example of where Scripture contradicts the confessions.
Good info