06/25/2026
June 25, 1530
Today, Lutheran churches around the world commemorate the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession.
The image below is of the Kasendorf Konfessionsbild (plural: Konfessionsbilder; literally "confessional image") that hangs in the Johanneskirche in Kasendorf, Upper Franconia, Germany. The Konfessionsbild was a genre of allegorical paintings popular among Lutherans during the 16th through 18th centuries. These images featured allegorical depictions of the Lutheran faith—Christ crucified, the sacraments, etc.—in simultaneous, layered tableaux occuring within a church, often alongside a sort of transported Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. Some also depict, interestingly, Calvinists being run out of the Lutheran church, especially those Konfessionsbilder that were made after the contentious debates (not to mention actual violence) between the Lutherans and the Calvinists in the later 16th and 17th centuries.
The Kasendorf Konfessionsbild was painted in 1602 in the workshop of the Nuremberg painter Andreas Herrneisen (1538-1610). In this image, we see the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession occuring front and center. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sits at left, and in the middle foreground stands Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise with the Augsburg Confession. Behind him stand the German princes who signed the Confession. (Those of you who read our post last week may note that this is not strictly-speaking an accurate depiction of the events of the Diet of Augsburg. This painting, however, is not intended to be a historical document, but rather a symbolic representation of the significance of the event.) In the church behind them, multiple things are occuring at once: Christ on the cross hangs above a celebration of the Lord's Supper, with what appears to be Melanchthon (left) and Luther (right) communing laypeople in both kinds, while a representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit hover above all. Under the altar, a divine foot crushes the head of the serpent—and on the altar cloth is written the names of various heretics and false teachers, including the pope, Karlstadt, Zwingli, Calvin, and Beza, among others.
To the left, an infant baptism takes place while a pastor preaches, and it appears that confession and absolution may be taking place behind them, to the extreme left. To the right, catechesis is underway, as is a wedding, while a choir and the organist give praise to God. Alms, good works, and prayer abound throughout the background, and it appears that a man is either throwing out or preventing the entry of a devil in the upper portion of the image.
Images like this were incredibly important as the Lutheran church developed independently of both the Roman Catholic Church and other Protestant groups. These metaphorical images helped to convey complex concepts to a population that still struggled with literacy, especially the level needed to read and comprehend a document like the Augsburg Confession. Significant historical moments were joined to the major tenets of the faith in a way that anybody could understand. These were very intentionally didactic paintings: if you zoom in, you might be able to see the small explanatory script that festoons nearly the entire painting.
Though our methods of teaching the faith may have changed, today is still the perfect day to reflect on the tenants of our faith that inspired men like Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, and Frederick the Wise to risk life and limb. It can be easy to take much of our Lutheran faith for granted: of course it's all about Jesus, of course it's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, of course baptism is for the remission of sins, of course communion (bread AND wine) delivers Christ's good gifts. But all of these core tenants of our faith had to be defended in documents and events like the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. We give thanks to God today and every day for God's good gift of right teaching and the human means through which He has passed down that good teaching to us.
--
We pray:
Lord God, heavenly Father, You preserved the teaching of the apostolic Church through the confession of the true faith at Augsburg. Continue to cast the bright beams of Your light upon Your Church that we, being instructed by the doctrine of the blessed apostles, may walk in the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen (Treasury of Daily Prayer).
--
Below are some additional resources, as well as sources that we utilized in the creation of this post, that you may find interesting.
You can read more about the Konfessionsbild featured in this post on the (German-language) Johanneskirche website here:
Page 1: http://www.landschaftsmuseum.de/Seiten/Heimatpf/Konfessionsbild-1.htm
Page 2:
http://www.landschaftsmuseum.de/Seiten/Heimatpf/Konfessionsbild-2.htm
For a general overview of Konfessionsbild, you can check out the (German-language) Wikipedia entry on the subject:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konfessionsbild
Learn about the importance of the Augsburg Confession for us as Lutherans:
https://resources.lcms.org/history/the-presentation-of-the-augsburg-confession/
And also about the sources for the Augsburg Confession:
https://resources.lcms.org/history/sources-of-the-augsburg-confession/
Read the appointed readings and prayers for The Commemoration of the Augsburg Confession:
https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/augsburg-confession-propers-pdf?_gl=1*123880s*_ga*MTkwNjkxNDY5Ni4xNzE0OTYwNjIy*_ga_Z0184DBP2L*MTcxODQ4MjY1MS4yNS4xLjE3MTg0ODI3NDkuMC4wLjA.
Image source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kasendorf_St.Johannes_Gem%C3%A4lde_Augsburger_Konfession_041298.jpg
