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Lutheran Hallmarks of Identity

Worth Remembering
Solus Christus
-- “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
-- “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life;
and he who does not believe the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).
-- “And there is no salvation in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given among men by
which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Roman Catholicism Rejects
Solus Christus
• “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of
Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere
heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they
know it through the dictates of their conscience—those too may
achieve eternal salvation” (Lumen Gentium, 1964).

• “It is known to Us [sic] and to you that those who labor in invincible
ignorance concerning our most holy religion and who assiduously
observing the natural law and its precepts, which has inscribed in the
hearts of all, and being ready to obey God, live an honest and upright
life can, through the working of the divine light and grace, attain
eternal life” (Pope Pius IX, 1846-1878).
Sola Scriptura (By Scripture Alone)
--It’s one of the four solas of the
Lutheran Reformation.

-- What makes the Bible God’s Word?


Lutheran Formula of Concord Gives the Answer
• “We believe, teach, and confess that the prophetic and apostolic writings of the
Old and New Testaments are the only rule and norm according to which all
doctrines and teachers alike must be appraised and judged, as it is written in
Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” And St.
Paul says in Galatians 1:8: “Even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a
gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

• In short, the Old Testament books are divinely inspired because they were
written by God’s chosen prophets. And the New Testament books are divinely
inspired because they were written by Christ’s chosen apostles.
New Testament’s Authenticity Rests on the
Apostles’ Writings
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, He will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all
things that I said to you” (John 14: 25-26).

“For I have given them the words which you have given me; and
they have received them, and have known surely that I came from
you, and they have believed that you sent me” (John 17:8).

“I have given them your word; and the world has hated them
because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world”
(John 17:14).
The Bible Has Two Divisions (Canons)
• The OT Canon in Protestant Bibles has 39 books.
• The Roman Catholic Church has added 15 OT Apocrypha
books, hence its Bible has 54 books.
• The NT Canon (most Bibles today have 27 books in the NT):
• But for centuries the church encountered numerous canons
• Origen (185-254 AD) said the NT had two kinds of books
•Homologoumena (books universally accepted as written
by the apostles or by an apostle’s assistant, e.g. Mark and
Luke).
•Antilegomena (books spoken against and not written by
the apostles or by an apostle’s assistant).
Homologoumena Books
• Four Gospels
-- Matthew (written by the apostle Matthew ca. 50 A.D.)
-- Mark (written by Mark, Peter’s assistant, ca. early 60s A.D.)
-- Luke (written by Luke, Paul’s assistant, ca. 55 A.D.)
-- John (written by John, the apostle, ca. 90 A.D.)
• Acts of the Apostles (written in 60-62 A.D. by Luke, the
evangelist and assistant to St. Paul)
• Paul’s Thirteen Epistles: Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians,
II Thessalonians, I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon
Homologoumena Books Continued
• I Corinthians (written by the apostle Paul from Ephesus in 54 or 55 A.D.)
• II Corinthians (written by Paul from Macedonia in 55 A.D.)
• I Thessalonians (written by Paul from Corinth in 51 A.D.)
• II Thessalonians (written by Paul from Corinth in 52 A.D.)
• I Timothy (written by Paul from Philippi in Macedonia in 63 A.D.)
• II Timothy (written by Paul from Rome by the apostle Paul in 68 A.D.)
• Titus (written by Paul from Macedonia in 65 A.D.)
• Philemon (written by Paul likely from Rome in 60 A.D.)
• I Epistle of Peter (written by the apostle Peter from Rome in mid 60 A.D.)
• I Epistle of John (written by the apostle John from Asia Minor, ca. mid 80s A.D.)
Antilegomena (Disputed) Books
• Epistle to the Hebrews (unknown author, written in ca. 68 A.D.)
• Origen: “Only God knows who wrote it.”
• Luther cites two false doctrines in Hebrews: 6:4-6 and 10:26-27
• Epistle of James (not written by the apostle James in ca. 50 A.D.)
• We don’t know which James wrote it.
• This epistle says, “. . . a man is justified by works, and not by
faith” (2:26).
• II Epistle of Peter (written in ca. 68, but not by the apostle Peter)
• II Epistle of John (written in ca. 80s A.D., not likely by the apostle
John)
• III Epistle of John (written in ca. 80s A.D., not likely by the apostle
John)
• Epistle of Jude (written in the 50s A.D., but not by the
apostle Jude (half-brother of Jesus)
• This epistle of one page is mostly an extract of II Peter.
• Luther said Jude mentions Christ several times, but he
says nothing about Him.

• The Book of Revelation (written in A.D. 95)


• Not known which John wrote it
• Luther said the apostles did not discuss visions.
• Luther said, “I can in no way detect that the Holy Spirit
produced it.”
• Luther also said no other NT writer praised his own work.
Luther’s Canon
•He accepted 23 NT books:
•Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,
Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians,
•Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, I Thessalonians, II
Thessalonians, I Timothy, II Timothy,
•Titus, Philemon, I Peter, II Peter, I, II, III
John
Luther’s Antilegomena Books
•Hebrews

•James

•Jude

•Revelation
WȔRTTEMBERGISCHES GLAUBENSBEKENNTNIS
(Confessio Virtembergica)
• Issued by the Stuttgart Synod in 1551 by 11 confessional Lutheran
theologians. Its chief author was Johannes Brenz.

• “Concerning the Holy Scriptures, we call only those books of the Old
and New Testaments canonical whose authority has never been
doubted in the church.”

• The list of NT books that were never doubted in the early church
were called the “homologoumena.”

• The doubted NT books the early church were called “antilegomena.”


• On March 7, 1552, Johannes Brenz, Jacob Heerbrand, and
Valentin Vannius took this Lutheran Confessional document
to the Council of Trent to show the Lutheran position on the
NT canon.

• But the anti-Luther Council of Trent refused to read the


Wȕrttembergishes Glaubensbekenntnis in its public session.

• The three Lutheran theologians returned home, and


Rome decreed the antilegomena books of the NT, and it
anathematized all who did not accept these historically
doubted books.
Council of Trent’s Vote on NT’s Canonicity

•On April 8, 1546, the vote was:


•24 delegates voted Yea (43.6 percent)
•15 delegates voted Nay (27.2 percent)
•16 delegates abstained (29.0 percent)
1. Solus Christus (Christ Alone)
2. Sola Gratia (By Grace Alone)
3. Sola Fide (By Faith Alone)
4. Sola Scriptura (By Scripture Alone)
5. NT Canonicity: Early Church, Luther, & the Council of Trent
6. NT Canonicity: Lutheran Theology after the Council of Trent
7. Law and Gospel: God’s Dichotomy
8. Word and Sacraments: Three Means of Grace
9. The Lord’s Supper: Christ’s Supernatural Bodily Presence
10. Luther’s Small Catechism: The Laity’s Bible
11. Luther’s Large Catechism: A Teacher’s Manual
12. Sinner and Saint at the Same Time
• 13. Lutheran Church: The Singing Church
• 14. The Divine Liturgy Teaches the Faith
• 15. Theology of the Cross: Luther’s Unique Insight
• 16. The Augsburg Confession: Birth of the Lutheran
Church
• 17. Two Different Governments: Sacred and Secular
• 18. Adiaphora: A Look at Christian Liberty
•19. The Book of Concord: Lutheran Handbook
• 20. Work and Vocation: God’s Mask
• 21. Hallmarks of the Lutheran Reformation

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