Formula of Concord / Book of Concord
Wir glauben, lehren und bekennen, daß die einzige Regel und Richtschnur, nach welcher alle Lehren beurtheilt werden sollen, die prophetischen und apostolischen Schriften sind.
Our renderingWe believe, teach, and confess that the only rule and norm by which all doctrines should be judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures.
What it is
The Formula of Concord (1577), completed and published as the Book of Concord (1580), was subscribed by three electors and 86 other princes and municipalities, representing over 8,000 Lutheran theologians, making it the binding confessional covenant of Lutheran dynastic identity across German-speaking territories. The Book of Concord gathers Luther's Small and Large Catechisms, the Augsburg Confession, its Apology, the Schmalkald Articles, Melanchthon's Treatise on the Power of the Pope, and the Formula itself, functioning simultaneously as doctrinal standard and territorial constitutional document for subscribing princes. Its inclusion of Luther's catechisms — already in daily household and catechetical use — gave the collection an immediate pastoral reach far beyond court theology. The Formula's Epitome distills twelve contested doctrinal points — including original sin, free will, justification, and the Lord's Supper — into a form still used for Lutheran confirmation and ordination preparation today.
Why it still matters
Modern readers will find the most direct devotional entry through Luther's Small Catechism, which is embedded in the Book of Concord and designed for daily household prayer, memorization, and the examination of conscience; the Epitome of the Formula then provides a concise doctrinal map for those wishing to understand confessional Lutheran identity.
Kept alongside
Luther's Small Catechism
Der Kleine Katechismus
Written in 1529 as a household guide for fathers to teach their children the essentials of Protestant faith, the Small Catechism covers the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and daily prayers in a question-and-answer format designed for memorization. Duke Albrecht von Hohenzollern commissioned its translation into Old Prussian in 1545, printed by Hans Weinreich in Königsberg — the oldest printed books in that language — making vernacular catechetical instruction a cornerstone of the duchy's Reformation. Frederick the Great's 1763 General-Land-Schul-Reglement explicitly mandated Luther's Small Catechism in all Prussian schools, cementing it as the primary doctrinal formation text for Hohenzollern subjects across three centuries. It remains the most widely used Protestant catechism in the world and a living document in Lutheran congregations globally.
Luther's Large Catechism (Deutsche Katechismus)
The Large Catechism, published in April 1529, arose from Luther's Saxon parish visitations and was addressed to pastors and educated adults in princely households who required deeper catechetical grounding than the Small Catechism provided. Luther himself testified to reading it every morning alongside the Psalms, intending it as a devotional commentary to be re-read regularly rather than studied once. Incorporated into the 1580 Book of Concord as a binding confessional standard, it became the document to which Lutheran princes attached their public subscription, making it simultaneously a devotional text and an act of political-religious identity. Its five parts — Commandments, Creed, Lord's Prayer, Baptism, and Eucharist — constitute a complete map of the Christian life.
Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana)
The Augsburg Confession was presented by Lutheran princes and city delegates to Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, drafted primarily by Melanchthon with Luther's close oversight from Coburg. It functioned simultaneously as a political document, a confessional identity statement, and a catechetical summary of evangelical doctrine in 28 articles. Subscription to it became the basis of membership in the Schmalkaldic League, embedding this text in the constitutive political and devotional identity of Protestant dynastic life for generations. It was incorporated as the first item in the Lutheran Book of Concord (1580), which every subscribing territorial prince formally affirmed as the doctrinal basis of his territory.