The 1530 Augsburg Confession

• Preface to the Emperor Charles V.
• Article I: Of God.
• Article II: Of Original Sin.
• Article III: Of the Son of God.
• Article IV: Of Justification.
• Article V: Of the Ministry.
• Article VI: Of New Obedience.
• Article VII: Of the Church.
• Article VIII: What the Church Is.
• Article IX: Of Baptism.
• Article X: Of the Lord's Supper.
• Article XI: Of Confession.
• Article XII: Of Repentance.
• Article XIII: Of the Use of the Sacraments.
• Article XIV: Of Ecclesiastical Order.
• Article XV: Of Ecclesiastical Usages.
• Article XVI: Of Civil Affairs.
• Article XVII: Of Christ's Return to Judgment.
• Article XVIII: Of Free Will.
• Article XIX: Of the Cause of Sin.
• Article XX: Of Good Works.
• Article XXI: Of the Worship of the Saints.
• Article XXII: Of Both Kinds in the Sacrament.
• Article XXIII: Of the Marriage of Priests.
• Article XXIV: Of the Mass.
• Article XXV: Of Confession.
• Article XXVI: Of the Distinction of Meats.
• Article XXVII: Of Monastic Vows.
• Article XXVIII: Of Ecclesiastical Power.
• Conclusion.

Article I: Of God.

Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and invisible; and yet there are three Persons, of the same essence and power, who also are coeternal, the Father the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the term "person" they use as the Fathers have used it, to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.

They condemn all heresies which have sprung up against this article, as the Manichaeans, who assumed two principles, one Good and the other Evil- also the Valentinians, Arians, Eunomians, Mohammedans, and all such. They condemn also the Samosatenes, old and new, who, contending that there is but one Person, sophistically and impiously argue that the Word and the Holy Ghost are not distinct Persons, but that "Word" signifies a spoken word, and "Spirit" signifies motion created in things.