Smalcald Articles

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The Smalcald Articles are a summary of Lutheran doctrine, written by Martin Luther in 1537 for a meeting of the Smalcaldic League. Luther's prince, John Frederick, asked him to prepare these articles for the Leagues meeting in 1537, held again in Smalcald. The League been organized in 1531 as a union of various Lutheran territories and cities, to provide a united military and political front against Roman Catholic politicians and armies, led by Charles V. When the League of Smalcald meet, Luther was taken very ill with a severe case of kidney stones and so was unable to attend the meeting. The league ultimately determined not to adopt the articles Luther had written. They were influenced not to adopt the Smalcald Articles by Philip Melanchthon who was concerned that Luther's writing would be regarded as divisive by some. Melanchthon was asked to write a clear statement on the Papacy and this he did, a document that was adopted at the meeting as the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope. The Smalcald Articles were highly prized by Prince John Frederick who ordered that they be made a part of his last will and testament. And though they were not adopted at the meeting of the Smalcaldic League in 1537, they were widely used and were incorporated into the Book of Concord in 1580 as one of the Lutheran Confessions of the faith.

Luther summarized what he regarded to be the most important teaching in Christianity:

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us...Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31)^[1]

Although the intended Council was never held, the Smalcald Articles were seen as a supplement to the other Confessions of the Lutheran Church and are still used today. They are included in the Book of Concord.

Source for these comments:

Bente, Friedrich. Historical Introductions to the Book of Concord. (1921) Reprint. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1965. ISBN 0-570-03262-8

[edit] Translations

The Smalcald Articles are avaialable in the following translations:

Concordia Triglotta: Libri symbolici Ecclesiae Lutheranae. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921. [1]
Kolb, Robert and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8006-2740-7
McCain, Paul T., Robert C. Baker, Gene Edward Veith, and Edward A. Engelbrecht, eds. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions -- A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005. ISBN 0-7586-0806-3
Tappert, Theodore G., ed. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959. ISBN 0-8006-0825-9