Articles of Schwabach

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      early Lutheran confession of faith, written in 1529 by Martin Luther (Luther, Martin) and other Wittenberg theologians and incorporated into the Augsburg Confession by Philipp Melanchthon (Melanchthon, Philipp) in 1530. It was prepared at the request of John the Steadfast (John), elector of Saxony, to provide a unifying document for the various Reformers and the possibility of a Protestant alliance as pursued by Philip of Hesse. Theologically, the articles meant to draw a line of differentiation from the psition of Huldrych Zwingli (Zwingli, Huldrych), and they were accepted by the secular leaders of Saxony and Brandenburg. Luther used the confession as the basis for the Articles of Marburg (October 1529) drafted in conjunction with the colloquy there. John submitted it as Saxony's official confession of faith to Emperor Charles V at Innsbruck in May 1530, prior to the Diet of Augsburg.

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