Outer Rim Territories

Augsburg Confession, Article XVI "Concerning Civil Affairs"

I tried to write this one in such a way that it was accessible to a lay-person. For those of you who aren't aware, the Augsburg Confession was written in the 16 century and is included in the "Book of Concord" of 1580. This book chronicles the articulated the reformers differences with the Roman Catholic church which ultimately led to the formation of the Lutheran church (no, not as cult of Luther but rather named for the reformer of the church.) The book helps to serve the specifics of the Lutheran faith with special notes of contrast to the other churches of the time. Ultimately, it is a Confession or statement of faith which systematizes the faith as given by the Biblical witness. I was assigned only one small article from it. I apologize if you are not familiar but regardless should serve to start some interesting discussion. Please comment! ------------------------ The Content, Historical, and Systematic Significance of the Augsburg Confession, Article XVI “Concerning Civil Affairs” Lutheran Confessions I 01.09.06 The Reformers of the 16th century opened a Pandora’s box with their dogma “justification by faith.” Some chose to misapply the freedom of the Gospel this reborn dogma brought. The Anabaptists lived a life of seclusion from greater society, abdicating themselves from any social responsibility. Some peasants used this freedom to seek violent civil means of spiritual reform in the Peasant’s Revolt. Remaining was the theocracy of the Papists who believed that the promise of the Gospel gave them civil authority. Augsburg Confession, article XVI, “On Civil Affairs” (AC: XVI) provides a brief discussion of the role of God in the “two kingdoms” and the believer’s resultant role in these realms. The content of AC: XVI begins with a statement that “all government in the world and all established rule and laws were instituted and ordained by God for the sake of good order.” This is immediately followed with a long list of civil responsibilities including “to impose just punishments, to wage just war, to make legal contracts” and so forth. A condemnation follows of the Anabaptists, a sect that prohibited the Christian from participating in these responsibilities. Next, we have a brief glimmer of Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms, voiced in the confusion of those who imitate monastic life as a form of works-righteousness. The confessors condemn those who “locate evangelical perfection not in the fear of God and in faith but in abandoning civil responsibilities.” Another important Lutheran doctrine of vocation or calling is mentioned. The Gospel compels us to keep the true order of God and “demonstrate in these [our] walks of life Christian love and true good works according to each person’s calling.” Finally, a Christian is to submit to the authorities as long as it can be done so without sin. The confessors say this in light of the witness of St. Peter and the apostles to the high priest in Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men.” The historical context for this article is complex and varied. The Reformers lived in a civil society under the strong influence of the Pope, who held the swords of civil and spiritual authority. He could apply strong influence on the Emperor. For example, Charles V’s banned Luther from the Empire for treason in hopes of gaining the Pope’s support against France. Luther’s excommunication from the Roman church by the spiritual leader, the Pope resulted in his condemnation by the civil authority, the Emperor. In the midst of this chaos, Luther resolved and understood the difficult paradox of the Christian. In 1520, he states in his “The Freedom of a Christian”, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” To support these statements he cites 1 Corinthians 9:19 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;” and Romans 13:8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” There is a duality in a Christian, both living under the law and being freed by the Gospel. He demonstrates this as being epitomized in Christ, the Gospel incarnate, which still came as man, under the law. “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” The architectural framework used by Melancthon to draft the Augsburg Confession was in part the Schwabach Articles. Luther drafted these source articles in 1529 for the Elector of Saxony to use to state his theological position before Emperor Charles V in 1530. The Fourteenth Article of the Schwabach Articles seems to be the primary source for AC: XVI. It promotes obedience to secular authority, lordship ordained by God to protect the upright from evil. A role a Christian may serve in this lordship role without damage or danger to their faith. The Article cites Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-16 “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” Primary rouser of rabble among the Papists was Johann Maier of Eck. In his 404 Articles written for the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1530, Eck sought to discredit the assertions of the Reformers. His motives were clear. For over ten years, Eck had been trying to discredit Luther and the other Reformers. He began in 1517 responding to Luther’s 95 Thesis, culminating in the Leipzig debate in 1519. Much of AC: XVI was written in response to the often out-of-context or misconstrued statements quoted by Eck. Specific articles under the topic title “Against Obedience and Princes” were obvious attempts to create conflict. For example, Article 334: “We Christians are free, exempt from all the laws of all people, set free through Baptism. Luther.” It is obvious that such a statement cause the civil authority to be nervous. As well, Eck addresses the topic of war in Article 387: “If something is wrested from us, we ought not seek its return through judicial proceedings or war. Luther.” By using these quotes Eck was able to connect the civil disobedience of the peasant’s revolt with Luther and the other reformers. The chief issue of the Papists in regards to this paradox manifested itself as confusion between Law and Gospel. Luther placed the Law in the dominion of the civil world. The Law is written on all men’s hearts. All men have a common knowledge of God. Unfortunately, their knowledge is one of wrath, vengeance, and no mercy. They have a limited capacity to fulfill this knowledge of the law, the second table of the Decalog. But for the first table (the first three commandments) man is without the capacity to do so apart from the clear assistance of the Holy Spirit. This shortcoming and inability to fulfill the Law has been absolved by the gift of the promise fulfilled in Christ, the Gospel. This is not a civil role but a purely spiritual one. The Papists believed they could through coercion, force, or other means assist in society’s ability to fulfill the Law and consequently deliver salvation to them. Rather than demonstrate the Gospel through Christian example and love in the civil realm, the Papists transformed the Gospel into Law by making “faith” mandatory. Also they elevated the celibate ascetic life of the monastery over the vocations of mother and father. Pope Leo X’s heavy hand in government and the withdrawal from family and marriage by those pursuing an ascetic lifestyle is addressed. This is not the proper witness of a Christian. AC: XVI addresses these concerns by stating “the gospel does not undermine government or family.” Melancthon addresses this further in the Apology to the Augsburg Confession. Even though the Confutation (Rome’s response to the AC) fundamentally agreed with AC: XVI, Melancthon wrote a lengthy exhortation addressed to the Anabaptists and the Papists. Based on his tone, he likely did not see further tact as necessary. “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” “The importance of this had been obscured by foolish monastic theories which put a hypocritical poverty and humility far above the state and the family, even though these have God’s command while the Platonic commune does not have God’s command.” The Anabaptists, led by Carlstadt and the enthusiasts, removed themselves from public life entirely. They did not understand the left hand kingdom, the civil kingdom as being established and preserved by God. This doctrine is taught in the scriptures in Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and God appoints the authorities that exist. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” The Anabaptists failed to recognize the civil realm as a primary mission field as in 1 Timothy 2:1 “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The Anabaptists continued to pose many challenges to both the Lutherans and Roman Catholics. This is most evident in Melancthon’s Apology of article XVI. The same error of confusing Law and Gospel is evident as with the Papists. “The Gospel does not introduce any new laws about the civil estate, but commands us to obey the existing laws, whether they were formulated by heathen or by others, and in this obedience to practice love. It was mad of Carlstadt to try to impose on us the judicial laws of Moses’” When this proved fruitless, they created their own communities, seeking to wait for the coming of God’s kingdom. Defining neighbor as only one within the community solved the problem of loving one’s own neighbor. While the Pope no longer tries to exert as blatant civil authority as in the 16th century and the Anabaptists aren’t as much a threat to Christendom, AC: XVI still serves as an important statement on our role in society and our role in our salvation. The distinction between civil righteousness and spiritual righteousness and its parallel of Law and Gospel would serve well to correct the heretical movement of the various church bodies. In the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a struggle persists which suggests an authoritarian structure of ecclesiastical supervision should be present. The question remains whether this is a commingling of Law and Gospel, the civil and the spiritual. Should not we rely on the only authority of faith, God in his Word? Similarly, those individuals who have lodged a civil lawsuit against the corporation of the LC-MS, are they too commingling Law and Gospel? Christ’s kingdom is spiritual, residing in the heart. The Gospel gives us no new civil laws but commands us to obey the existing ones. The perfection of a Christian individual does not come through keeping the external laws but through the righteousness imparted by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Consequently, we can learn that those who seek the perfect Christian utopian society are doomed to failure. We cannot expect our society to reform or bring people to salvation. This is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit acting through the Church. We can through our vocations work in the civil realm to model it within the structure and framework of the Decalogue. This improved or “perfected” environment will not bring people to faith or prevent sinning. The original sin, the corruption began with Adam persists in all man. This model appears as the intent of some of those termed the “Christian Right Wing” in this country. These people are pursuing radical change, censorship, or strong religious-motivated influence on the political leadership. While the confessors certainly believed political vocations to be valid, they expressly spoke against the Papacy and the creation of theocracies. We should only seek to preserve our religious freedom through civil obedience and not revert to violence, coercion, or deceit to gain political influence. Those who seem to impart heavy-handed influence bolster the negative and fundamentally non-Christian perception of the “Christian right.” As well when the freedom of the Gospel is applied to this civil realm of the much damage can insure. Christians by misapplying the Gospel may tend to lean in a Libertarian way, suggesting the laws should be removed since all is absolved in Christ. In an attempt to avoid theocracy, we would thus allow all the evil powers of the world to break lose. God creates and maintains good government for this express purpose. Anarchism and extreme personal liberty argue an absence of formal law. As any parent can testify, without barriers our inclination even at the youngest age is to evil, disobedience. The most difficult application of AC: XVI is perhaps in the realm of Christians under a tyrannical government. They should seek legal and appropriate means to speak for change and reform. Should this behavior be modeled after Matthew 18 or does this speak only to Christian-Christian relations? It is not hard to suggest that Christians should be quietly patient in their seeking of reforms. We Christians live in both the kingdom of God, given to us through the Gospel by the Holy Spirit and in the kingdom of this earth, a civil government that is a weak representation of God’s Law but one that God preserves and maintains as well through Christians and pagans alike. We live in a challenging and dualistic situation. As Luther said, we are lord of everything and servant to all simultaneously. Through our free will we seek to fulfill our vocations in the civil realm yet we know that in our failings we have the forgiveness in faith given by God. AC: XVI provides a backbone of reason for those in doubt of their civil vocations such as those in political office, soldiers, and judges, those with wealth. In these vocations, we should learn from the example of the Papists and Anabaptists and avoid those errors in their new clothing. Most importantly we should continue to teach and learn to distinguish Law and Gospel and by doing so preserve the distinction between the two kingdoms.