AUGSBURG CONFESSION PRESENTATION

 AUGSBURG CONFESSION PRESENTATION 

Every year we commemorate Augsburg Confession Presentation. The confessors gathered together in Augsburg on June 25th 1530 for the presentation of their statement of faith to the Emperor - Charles V. He was not really excited that some of his electors and rulers uphold the ideas of Luther's reformation (who, by the way, was still outlawed since 1521). Luther himself had to "hide" in Coburg - for this very reason, being an outlaw was not a status one wants to take lightly in the Medieval Europe. Here is a link to a good (and short!) article that retells the background and story of the presentation. 

So, it was a very pleasant surprise, when one of the members of Zion's family of faith gave a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther (originally made by Lucas Cranach the Elder) that he made himself. Again, Luther could not be at Augsburg for obvious reasons, yet - he was the engine behind the Reformation movement of the Church. Ecclesia semper Reformanda! (Always Reforming Church!).       

LUTHERAN PHILOSOPHER

 I was taking a CE class in Anaheim, CA. Prof. John T. Pless taught on "Psalms as Pastoral Theology". 

During the discussion of Ps. 51 - the penitent psalm of king David - Dr. Pless mentioned that if we are to look for a Lutheran philosopher we can find one in Johann Georg Hamann, but not in Emanuel Kant. 

Honestly, I never heard this name before, and begun to look for the info. Turns out, Oswald Bayer wrote a book on Hamann that was translated to English in 2012 - here is the link.

Then a few years ago (2021) Dr. Kleinig translated and published his London Writings, where Hamann presented the story of his conversion and return to faithful life in Christ. 

Here is wiki page on the Lutheran Philosopher.