ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONFESSIONS 1 CON1-Q026 JANUARY 2005 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY: CAPTION FIRST, INC. P.O. BOX 1924 LOMBARD, IL 60148 * * * * * This text is being provided in a rough-draft format. Communications Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * * * >> PAUL: The Augsburg Confession is divided into two parts. Is this because the two parts address different situations in the life of the church? >> DR. KLAUS DETLEV SHULTZ: Yes, Paul. You are correct in asking whether the Augsburg Confession addresses really two life situations. I think it does. I think in Articles 22 to 28, going back to the *Tourgau Articles, the Augsburg Confession addresses with these articles especially the abuses that were taking place in the Roman Catholic Church. Such abuses were the marriage of priests, the vows that they were taking, such as celibacy, poverty. And then they were also addressing the role and the jurisdiction in the church of the bishops and, namely, of all pastors. It was also going back to whether the distinction of foods was to be maintained, whether the communion of one kind was legitimate. And so such abuses had to be addressed, particularly also the one of the Mass. Articles 1 through 21 must be seen as a reaction to the 404 Propositions of *Johann Eck. So they want to present positively also that what Lutherans believe beyond then just addressing those abuses in the second half of the Augsburg Confession. We must look at the Augsburg Confession as a confession that addresses particularly though, the Roman Catholic Church. Its purpose is to present itself at the Diet of Augsburg as a confession that does not want to bring across the idea that this is a different movement apart of the Roman Catholic Church. No. The Lutherans wanted to reform the Roman Catholic Church. That was the hope as they presented it to the Diet of Augsburg and to the emperor. Indications of this intention is in the preface of the Augsburg Confession. Therein we read that they were hopeful, that they had great intentions of bringing these and persuading all those present at that Diet. But the character of the Augsburg Confession should be recognized as very important. So whatever we say in terms of it's theology probably addresses more of that what is said about the Roman Catholic Church then that what is later presented, for example, in the Small Court Articles and later on where also another party, the reform theology, is taken into perspective.