A Quote about the Confessions

Our Sunday morning Adult Bible Class has been studying the Lutheran Confessions as contained in the Book of Concord. We've gone through the Augsburg Confession, the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, now we're in Luther's Catechisms. We'll be taking a break from the Confessions after we finish the Catechisms, and will resume after we study a book or two of the Bible.

Readers of Cyberbrethren were encouraged to share the following quote about the importance of everyone knowing the Lutheran Confessions. It's from Wilhelm Loehe, German Lutheran pastor and early supported of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod:

I declare myself for the Lutheran Church for the sake of the treasure. The Lutheran Church lacks many things I would like to see in it, but it has something that lets it be the true church despite all shortcomings, and for the sake of which I find it easy and beautiful to be faithful to it in its outward misery. Do you know what I am talking about? I am talking about its utterly pure confession and its pure doctrine in conformity with its confession. Who has ever proved that its confession is in error in any doctrinal article? When speaking of its confession, I am not only talking about the Augsburg Confession, but about the entire Book of Concord from the Augsburg Confession all the way to the Formula of Concord. You do not know these writings, dear reader, otherwise you would agree with me. Get to know them and you will agree. What is more beautiful, lovely, powerful, and lively than Luther’s catechisms? What is more catholic than the Augsburg Confession and its Apology? What is more thoughtful and bold than the Smalcald Articles? And what is slandered more wrongfully than the beautiful Formula of Concord in its clean but mild definition of all teachings? Dear reader, I repeat, you do not know your Church’s confessions of faith. Get to know them in order to know why you adhere to your church.