The Book of Concord

Some explanation. The Book of Concord contains the Creeds of the Christian Church and seven historic documents/writings concerning the understanding of Scripture which were written in the 16th century. Though there were several historic editions of the Book of Concord, today the 1580 edition is the commonly accepted one.

For further understanding about what role this plays in the Church it would be beneficial to see how the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has described its "Confession" as a church. The following is an excerpt from the "2004 Handbook" of the LC-MS which is the official constitution.

Article II Confession
The Synod, and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation:

1. The Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and of practice;
2. All the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God, to wit: the three Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Large Catechism of Luther, the Small Catechism of Luther, and the Formula of Concord.

The Book of Concord