Day 05 - St. Anne's Church Augsburg, Neuschwanstein Castle

Today was a really sweet day. After waking up to a crisp, overcast morning in Nuremberg, we headed out to the city of Augsburg. Augsburg was originally settled as a Roman Province in 15BC by Caesar Augustus (the Roman Emperor named in Luke 2:1). 1500 years later, the town of Augsburg would play a critical role in the German Reformation. Pastor Shea started us out this morning by talking about the doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" that men like Martin Luther helped recover during the middle ages. This is the idea that the Bible alone is the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We talked about the role of God's Word being the primary governing voice over our lives, and our willingness to hold fast to it when other voices seek to contradict it or tempt us towards compromise away from it. 

You could see this theme on display as we walked through the old city of Augsburg. We saw the place where Martin Luther first came face to face with Cardinal Cajetan in 1518, boldly refusing to recant his beliefs concerning what the Word of God taught. It was also in that same place where Luther's theology was crafted into what became known as the "Augsburg Confession" during the famous Diet of Augsburg in 1530, hosted by Emperor Charles V. It was this confession that not only formed much of our Protestant theology, but also led the city of Augsburg to become one of the first cities to formally embrace the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Pastor Shea showed us how these meetings in Augsburg were not about Martin Luther trying to invent something new, but rather calling the church back to the eternal Word of God, which the church had drifted from. 

From there, our day ended by visiting the spectacular Neuschwanstein Castle, nestled in the mountains above the German town of Fussen. This castle is what inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle in California, and Cinderella's castle in Florida. It has absolutely no Reformation ties, but we were thrilled to get to take it in. 

Tomorrow, we depart Germany by boat, and head to Switzerland to explore the Swiss Reformation!