SMALCALDICI, ARTICOLI.
They were drawn up in the city of Smalcald
in an uncompromising and aggressive tone by
Lutero himself (unlike the conciliatory «Confessio Augustana» formulated by
Melantone), as the norm for what the
Protestants might and ought to
«recipere, concedere vel recusare» at the
Council summoned to Mantua in 1537.
They are grouped into three parts: the first comprises the articles concerning «divine
Majesty», that is, the Trinitarian and
Christological dogma, as contained in the Apostolic
Creed: of these it is said that there is no controversy with the
adversaries; the second groups the «irreducible» articles,
that is, those on which no concession is to be made:
salvation through the sole merits of Jesus Christ, rejection of the
Mass as a sacrifice, condemnation of the invocation of the
Saints, abolition of celibacy, the papacy as the creation of the Antichrist; in the third, 15 articles are listed on which «one
can discuss with the learned and reach compromises». They
concern original sin and its consequences; the
law, which reveals to man his weakness; penance, as an awareness of spiritual death and of one’s
radical injustice; the «false penance of the pontiffs»;
the Gospel as the manifestation of the promise of per-
(fot. Boissonnar)
SMALTO – Aquamanile, known as that of Carlomagno, with inlaid oriental enamels from the 8th century – St-Maurice, Treasury of the abbey church.
gift; Baptism, with the justification of the Baptism of children; the Sacrament of the altar; the power of the keys; confession; excommunication; initiation, Orders, and vocation; the marriage of priests; the Church; “how man is judged before God” and good works; monastic vows; human traditions. These articles, signed by 43 theologians, including Lutero, Bugenhagen, Nicola Amsdorf, Agricola, Melantone, and Urbano Regio, were included in the Liber concordiae of 1580 as the dogmatic text of Lutheranism (v. LUTERO).