(#2) What implications or applications may be drawn...

If one makes a quia subscription to the Book of Concord, etc.

The Augsburg Confession

ARTICLE II. – OF ORIGINAL SIN.

We teach, that since the fall of Adam all men who are naturally engendered, are conceived and born in sin; that is, that they all are from their mother’s womb, full of evil desires and propensities, and can have by nature no true fear of God, no true faith in God; and that this innate disease, or original sin, is truly sin, which brings all those under the eternal wrath of God, who are not born again by Baptism and the Holy Spirit.

Hence, we condemn the Pelagians and others, who deny that original corruption is sin, whereby they assert, to the disparagement of the merits and sufferings of Christ, that piety is the result of our natural powers.

Thought:

Reading this, I am reminded of a section of the "Flood Prayer" from Luther's Baptismal Booklet: "we ask for the sake of this very same boundless mercy of yours that you would look graciously upon N. and bless him with true faith in the Holy Spirit so that through this same saving flood all that has been born in him from Adam and whatever he has added thereto may be drowned in him and sink, etc." (The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert, eds., Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000, p.374; emphasis added.) It is perhaps worth noting that Article II explicitly makes a connection to Baptism.

Applications and Implications:

(1) Those who assert that "piety is the result of our natural powers" - that we might somehow naturally have or achieve true fear of God or true faith in God - bring into question what exactly it was that Christ came to do.

(2) When I hear questions pressed against this Article, dissent is often expressed with regard to infants. Infants look innocent. Infants can't *do* anything, can't *hurt* anyone, cannot think - let alone harbor malicious thoughts or ill-will toward anyone. Response?

(3) Believing that infants are conceived and born in sin, the implication is that from infancy we need the grace and promises of God which are given and applied in Holy Baptism, that we might also escape "the eternal wrath of God". (In the Large Catechism, Luther says more about Infant Baptism here.)

(4) There are also in this article - if all men can "have by nature no true fear of God, no true faith in God" - implications for evangelism, etc. Would anyone care to elaborate? (Perhaps with reference to Articles III-V?)