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The Reformation · 1539
On the Church and the Authority of the Word of God
Philipp Melanchthon · 1497–1560
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What it is
An argument that the church's authority is ministerial rather than legislative — it announces the word and cannot make new articles of faith.
Why it lasted
The clearest Lutheran statement on the limits of church authority, written as negotiations with Rome were still thought possible.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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