ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONFESSIONS 1 CON1-Q027 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. * * * * >> DAVID: If I compare the Augsburg Confession to the ecumenical creeds, one sees that it is far longer and more abstract in theology and language than the creeds. It appears more like a book than a confession. Is my impression wrong? >> DR. KLAUS DETLEV SHULTZ: From the first glance of the Augsburg Confession, one would have to agree with that impression that you have just spoken of, David. The Augsburg Confession is far longer and is more dogmatic in its treatment so it gives you that impression that it wants to go beyond just that of the confessional character that the three ecumenical creeds have. However, at its very heart, we have to understand that the Augsburg Confession also wants to illuminate the true nature of the Gospel. In Article 7, for example, it says the church must preach the Gospel purely and rightly administer the sacraments. To uphold that, they would want to confess the pure Gospel so that it can, indeed, be preached purely in the church and they would want to confess what Holy Communion is all about so that it can be rightly administered in the church. This means that they want the saving faith to be brought to the people in an unhindered way. Everything that stands in the way of the Holy Spirit must be removed in the church. So their concern, really in essence, is that of bringing the Gospel once again to the people. The Gospel that is confessed the early creeds, but the Gospel that also needs to be confessed again and again in every context, such as the sixteenth century. And what is at stake? Really, salvation is at stake. That's the purpose of all confessions. And the treatment of the Gospel needs to be done carefully, explained, so that all those heresies that stand in its way are rejected as well. The conscience of all believers must not be burdened so that they become terrified and do not know where to find salvation. The Gospel is the only form that can bring the people back to Jesus Christ if it is taught in its purity. And that is the concern of the Confessions here, to relieve terrified consciences of all those practices that have abused the natural nature of the Gospel and spread something else instead of proclaiming it in its truth.