N
estled somewhere between the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord is a lesser-known Reformation gem: the Smalcald (sometimes Schmalkald) Articles, a testimony to the life-and-death struggles accompanying the Reformation, and Martin Luther’s spiritual bequest to those who had followed him. By 1531, the Reformation was well under way. Those in Protestant territories feared that armies from Catholic territories would attack them in order to squash the Reformation. At the town of Schmalkalden, Germany, leaders from several Protestant territories met and established a mutual-protection pact, to mediate this risk. Known as the Schmalkaldic League, it had some early success as a deterrent. In 1536, Pope Paul III called for a general council of the Roman Catholic Church in Mantua, Italy, in part to deal with the Reformation. Expecting discussions to arise at this church council, elector John Frederick I of Saxony asked a group of theologians headed by Martin Luther to write up a review of which doctrinal issues were non-negotiable and which might have room for discussion. Luther, at the time in declining health and believed to be dying, meant it also as his spiritual last will and testament for his followers. The result was a searching look at what was fundamentally most important and central to the faith: the list of things to live and die for, spearheaded by a man who felt that this was the last chance to get it right. Luther’s write-up, the Smalcald Articles, was presented to the League, but the League decided to use the Augsburg Confession in any official dealings with the church council. Several theologians personally endorsed it, though. In the succeeding decades, the Articles were used confessionally by a number of Lutheran territories and were included in the Book of Concord. Structurally, the Articles break into three sections. The first briefly outlines
8 THE LU THERAN AMBASSADOR
