Read With Me

With the encouragement of a fellow pastor, I plan on reading the entire Book of Concord (the Lutheran Confessions) this summer.

Many people might cringe at the idea of reading the confessional writings of any church body. Some might say that reading something like the Book of Concord is something pastors should do, but lay-people, the “regular folk” shouldn’t concern themselves with them.
This just isn’t true, however. The following quote sums it up well:

This is not just a book for pastors and church “professionals” or “academics.” In fact, it is important to realize that the people most directly responsible for the Lutheran Confessions were laymen, not pastors and theologians. At tremendous personal risk to their own lives, their property, and their profession, laymen boldly stepped before the emperor and the pope’s representatives. They asserted that these Confessions were their own. They did not back down or compromise. For this reason, it is unfortunate that down through the years the Book of Concord has come to be regarded more as a book for pastors and professional theologians.
Tucked into the middle of this book is the most widely used of all the Lutheran Confessions: Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Luther wrote this document not simply as a resource for the church and school, but, first and foremost, for the head of the household. Luther intended this little book to be used by laypeople, daily, to help them remain anchored to the solid teachings of God’s holy Word, the Bible. So keep this important fact in mind: The Book of Concord exists because of the faith and conviction of laypeople, who risked their very lives in order to have these Confessions produced, published, and distributed. The Book of Concord is a book for all Christians, church workers and laypeople alike.
Christians who want to be true and faithful to the teachings of the Bible return, again and again, to this book. In these confessions of faith they find agreement, unity, and harmony in the truths of God’s Word. (from the General Introduction to the Book of Concord)

The fellow pastor who encouraged me to read these confessions, Rev. Johann Caauwe, wrote his own post about it, which I encourage you to read. If you’re interested in reading too, feel free to leave a comment here and/or at the original post.
Happy reading!

UPDATE I'm adding another couple of paragraphs from Pastor Caauwe's post to make a few things more clear:

I will be using the CPH Reader’s Edition (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions) again. This has become my standard English version which I use.  If you don’t have a copy of the Book of Concord, get one. Read the paragraph below to explain why. It is currently on sale for $20 at cph.org. If you have a different version (Triglot, Tappert, Kolb/Wengert), there is an older version of the summer schedule here. If you don’t want to buy a book, you can read it on the internet right here, or purchase an electronic version here. You might also consider the pocket editionif you want to keep reading while on vacation and not have to lug a big book around.

Are you interested in reading with me? If so, I’d like to hear from you. Perhaps we can even discuss a few topics as we go through it. I’ll warn you that the schedule is pretty ambitious. This is the third time I’ve attempted this schedule and I’ve never yet finished on September 6th. But maybe if I had a few reading partners, you can help me stay on track. You can download the schedule through this link.

 Update #2 There's going to be a discussion going on for these readings on Google Wave. If you don't know what wave is, you can read my post on it. You no longer need an invitation for Wave, so feel free to check out the discussion embedded at http://web.me.com/caauwejw/Concordia/ .