Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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Viewing the Bible as literature is an essential and natural way of engaging the text. But there are also ways in which this practice can get lost.
The scope of catechesis from the Reformation was broad and included not only instruction at church but in the home and in schools.
What doesn’t kill you might actually be a cheapened law that leaves wiggle room and space in the door for your old man to stick his foot in and get in on the work of Christ.
This is an excerpt from “Crucifying Religion” written by Donavon Riley (1517 Publishing, 2019).
Our forefathers dedicated Holy Cross Day to jolt the Church into remembrance that Christianity is not principally about ethics.
The gospel fires up within us the gratitude, joy, and love to pull off what the law never could get us to do.
This is an excerpt from “God’s Devil” written by John Warwick Montgomery (1517 Publishing, 2020).
No good will come to the cause of the Gospel by followers of Jesus being regarded as crazy dissidents who will not cooperate with the most basic social mechanisms.
This is an excerpt from “With My Own Eyes” written by Bo Giertz and translated by Bror Erickson (1517 Publishing, 2017).
This is an excerpt from the book, “Paul and the Resurrection” written by Joshua Pagán (1517 Publishing, 2020).
The unbeliever will search for relief from temptations in worldly prescriptions and pleasures. The believer searches for answers in the promises of the One who can bring true lasting peace in mind, body, and soul.
We’ve become experts at making deals with God.