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History of Lutheranism
Lutheranism as a movement traces its origin to the work of Martin Luther, a religious scholar who sought to reform the practices of the Roman Catholic Church in the early 16th century. What started as an academic debate quickly devolved into a religious war, fueled by the political climate of the Holy Roman Empire and strong personalities on both sides.
As a result, followers of Luther's "Evangelical" movement were given the derogatory label "Lutherans", which was adopted as a badge of pride amongst the followers.
Luther also sparked a larger split within the Roman Catholic Church, such as the reform movements lead by Huldreich Zwingli and John Calvin. For this reason, Luther is also known as the father of the Protestant Reformation, and the larger movement of Protestantism.
The Lutheran movement was bolstered by the work of several reformers, primarily among the early leaders was Philipp Melanchthon, a colleague of Luther's at the College of Wittenburg.
Lutheranism would become known as a separate movement after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg, which was convened by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in order to settle religious differences amongst his subjects. At the Diet, Philipp Melanchthon presented a written summary of Lutheran beliefs called the Augsburg Confession. Several of the German princes (and later, kings and princes of other countries) signed the document to define "Lutheran" territories. These princes would ally to create the Smalcald League in 1531, which lead to the Smalcald War that pitted the Lutheran princes of the Smalcald League against the Roman Catholic forces of Charles V.
After the conclusion of the Smalcald War, Charles V attempted to impose religious doctrine on the territories that he had defeated. However, the religious movement was not defeated. In 1577, the next generation of Lutheran theologians gathered the work of the previous generation to define the doctrine of the persisting Lutheran church. This document is known as the Formula of Concord, and in 1580, all documents were bound and distributed in a volume titled The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This book is still used today, and is referred to as the Book of Concord.
Lutheran Religious Beliefs
While there are several Lutheran denominations worldwide, all Lutheran churches base their doctrine on the confessional writings contained in the Book of Concord. (For this reason, Lutherans who follow the Book of Concord closely, especially conservative Lutherans, may refer to themselves as Confessional Lutherans, even though the Book of Concord can be widely interpreted.)
Lutheran religious beliefs are typically summarized by the motto "Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura":
Sola gratia: "Grace Alone" - Lutherans believe that salvation occurs only by the grace of God, not by actions that we may take.
Sola fide: "Faith Alone" - Lutherans believe that justification is through faith alone, that is, having faith makes sinners just and righteous.
Sola scriptura: "Scripture Alone" - Lutherans believe that the Bible is the only standard by which teachings and doctrines can be judged.
Sola gratia and Sola fide are usually opposed with works salvation. Works salvation states that by doing good works, men repay the debt of sin that they have incurred before God. To the contrary, Lutherans believe that sinners cannot do good works, since they are bound to their sinful and evil nature. Only through grace, say Lutherans, can humans do good works, and once humans have grace, they are justified by God and thereby saved.
Some Lutheran denominations take Sola scriptura as a statement of Biblical inerrancy a topic that has been a matter of contention for hundreds of years. Luther himself could be critical of the writings contained in the Bible: For example, Luther once referred to the Book of James as an "epistle of straw", as it contains ideas about salvation that Luther felt may contradict some of the writings of the Apostle Paul.
The Lutheran view of salvation can be summarized by saying:
All humanity is sinful.
Humanity is incapable of rising out of its sinful state on its own.
All who sin are under the wrath of God and are subject to His just and righteous punishment.
God's gift of grace is the establishment of faith in Jesus Christ.
God elects the faithful, declaring them just and righteous and forgiving their sins.
For an overview of Lutheran theology, see Braaten, Carl E., Principles of Lutheran Theology, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983, ISBN 0800616898.
Lutheran Religious Practices
Lutherans generally place great emphasis on a liturgical approach to worship services; music also forms a large part of a traditional Lutheran service. Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales, and Luther himself composed hymns and hymn tunes, the most famous of which is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" ("Ein Feste Burg"). Many Lutheran churches have active music ministries, including choirs, hand-bell choirs, children's choirs and sometimes carillon societies (to ring bells in a bell tower). Johann Sebastian Bach, a devout Lutheran, composed music for the Lutheran church.
Children's ministries are considered fundamental in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain Sunday Schools, and many host or maintain private nursery-schools, primary schools, regional high schools and universities. Lutheran pastors and staff are repeatedly reminded that most evangelism occurs within the church, with children.
Pastors usually teach in the common language of the parish. In the U.S., some congregations and synods traditionally taught in German or Norwegian, but this custom is now declining.
Pastors almost always have substantial theological educations, including Greek and Hebrew so that they can refer directly to the canonical Christian scriptures in the original language. Lutheran pastors marry and have families.
Lutheran Ecumenism
Lutherans believe in the idea that there should be a single Christian church, and a single Christian faith. This belief is ingrained in the Lutheran confessions, and reflects the history of Lutheranism as a reform movement rather than a separatist movement.
For that reason, a number of modern Lutheran denominations, now largely separated from state control, are reaching out to other Lutheran denominations as well as other Christian denominations.
The largest organizations of Lutheran churches around the world are the Lutheran World Federation and the International Lutheran Council, which include the great majority of Lutheran denominations around the globe.
Lutheran Charitable Organizations
As Lutherans believe that "good works" are a sign of faith, Lutherans support several charitable organizations, on local and global scales.
The largest worldwide organization is Lutheran World Relief, which focuses on charity work, as well as disaster response.
Thrivent (formerly AAL/LB) and Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) are also important organizations.
Lutheranism in the United States
In the U.S., congregations are grouped into over 20 different denominations. The three largest Lutheran bodies in the United States are, in order of size: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the more conservative Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), and the even more conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). These denominations provide seminaries, pastoral care, and Sunday School and liturgical materials. Local congregations contribute funds to support them and receive services and materials. Denominations help to start new congregations affiliated with them.
The ELCA is divided into 64 geographical and 1 non-geographical synods. The LCMS and WELS each constitute a single synod for the entire denomination. The ELCA has "Full Communion" agreements with The Episcopal Church (named Called to Common Mission), the Moravian Church, and the Reformed Churches in the United States. The ELCA is currently studying the issue of homosexuality, and will decide at its 2005 Churchwide assembly whether to bless same-sex marriage and clergy in active same-sex relationships.
U.S. denominations differ on doctrine and practice. Doctrinally the denominations differ primarily based on their acceptance of the theory of "higher criticism." LCMS and WELS mistrust this set of critical literature, which explicitly denies the miraculous provenance of many events described in the Bible. In contrast, many members of the ELCA believe that higher criticism represents the best efforts of modern scholarship.
Lutheranism as a movement traces its origin to the work of Martin Luther, a religious scholar who sought to reform the practices of the Roman Catholic Church in the early 16th century. What started as an academic debate quickly devolved into a religious war, fueled by the political climate of the Holy Roman Empire and strong personalities on both sides.
As a result, followers of Luther's "Evangelical" movement were given the derogatory label "Lutherans", which was adopted as a badge of pride amongst the followers.
Luther also sparked a larger split within the Roman Catholic Church, such as the reform movements lead by Huldreich Zwingli and John Calvin. For this reason, Luther is also known as the father of the Protestant Reformation, and the larger movement of Protestantism.
The Lutheran movement was bolstered by the work of several reformers, primarily among the early leaders was Philipp Melanchthon, a colleague of Luther's at the College of Wittenburg.
Lutheranism would become known as a separate movement after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg, which was convened by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in order to settle religious differences amongst his subjects. At the Diet, Philipp Melanchthon presented a written summary of Lutheran beliefs called the Augsburg Confession. Several of the German princes (and later, kings and princes of other countries) signed the document to define "Lutheran" territories. These princes would ally to create the Smalcald League in 1531, which lead to the Smalcald War that pitted the Lutheran princes of the Smalcald League against the Roman Catholic forces of Charles V.
After the conclusion of the Smalcald War, Charles V attempted to impose religious doctrine on the territories that he had defeated. However, the religious movement was not defeated. In 1577, the next generation of Lutheran theologians gathered the work of the previous generation to define the doctrine of the persisting Lutheran church. This document is known as the Formula of Concord, and in 1580, all documents were bound and distributed in a volume titled The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This book is still used today, and is referred to as the Book of Concord.
Lutheran Religious Beliefs
While there are several Lutheran denominations worldwide, all Lutheran churches base their doctrine on the confessional writings contained in the Book of Concord. (For this reason, Lutherans who follow the Book of Concord closely, especially conservative Lutherans, may refer to themselves as Confessional Lutherans, even though the Book of Concord can be widely interpreted.)
Lutheran religious beliefs are typically summarized by the motto "Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura":
Sola gratia: "Grace Alone" - Lutherans believe that salvation occurs only by the grace of God, not by actions that we may take.
Sola fide: "Faith Alone" - Lutherans believe that justification is through faith alone, that is, having faith makes sinners just and righteous.
Sola scriptura: "Scripture Alone" - Lutherans believe that the Bible is the only standard by which teachings and doctrines can be judged.
Sola gratia and Sola fide are usually opposed with works salvation. Works salvation states that by doing good works, men repay the debt of sin that they have incurred before God. To the contrary, Lutherans believe that sinners cannot do good works, since they are bound to their sinful and evil nature. Only through grace, say Lutherans, can humans do good works, and once humans have grace, they are justified by God and thereby saved.
Some Lutheran denominations take Sola scriptura as a statement of Biblical inerrancy a topic that has been a matter of contention for hundreds of years. Luther himself could be critical of the writings contained in the Bible: For example, Luther once referred to the Book of James as an "epistle of straw", as it contains ideas about salvation that Luther felt may contradict some of the writings of the Apostle Paul.
The Lutheran view of salvation can be summarized by saying:
All humanity is sinful.
Humanity is incapable of rising out of its sinful state on its own.
All who sin are under the wrath of God and are subject to His just and righteous punishment.
God's gift of grace is the establishment of faith in Jesus Christ.
God elects the faithful, declaring them just and righteous and forgiving their sins.
For an overview of Lutheran theology, see Braaten, Carl E., Principles of Lutheran Theology, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983, ISBN 0800616898.
Lutheran Religious Practices
Lutherans generally place great emphasis on a liturgical approach to worship services; music also forms a large part of a traditional Lutheran service. Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales, and Luther himself composed hymns and hymn tunes, the most famous of which is "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" ("Ein Feste Burg"). Many Lutheran churches have active music ministries, including choirs, hand-bell choirs, children's choirs and sometimes carillon societies (to ring bells in a bell tower). Johann Sebastian Bach, a devout Lutheran, composed music for the Lutheran church.
Children's ministries are considered fundamental in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain Sunday Schools, and many host or maintain private nursery-schools, primary schools, regional high schools and universities. Lutheran pastors and staff are repeatedly reminded that most evangelism occurs within the church, with children.
Pastors usually teach in the common language of the parish. In the U.S., some congregations and synods traditionally taught in German or Norwegian, but this custom is now declining.
Pastors almost always have substantial theological educations, including Greek and Hebrew so that they can refer directly to the canonical Christian scriptures in the original language. Lutheran pastors marry and have families.
Lutheran Ecumenism
Lutherans believe in the idea that there should be a single Christian church, and a single Christian faith. This belief is ingrained in the Lutheran confessions, and reflects the history of Lutheranism as a reform movement rather than a separatist movement.
For that reason, a number of modern Lutheran denominations, now largely separated from state control, are reaching out to other Lutheran denominations as well as other Christian denominations.
The largest organizations of Lutheran churches around the world are the Lutheran World Federation and the International Lutheran Council, which include the great majority of Lutheran denominations around the globe.
Lutheran Charitable Organizations
As Lutherans believe that "good works" are a sign of faith, Lutherans support several charitable organizations, on local and global scales.
The largest worldwide organization is Lutheran World Relief, which focuses on charity work, as well as disaster response.
Thrivent (formerly AAL/LB) and Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) are also important organizations.
Lutheranism in the United States
In the U.S., congregations are grouped into over 20 different denominations. The three largest Lutheran bodies in the United States are, in order of size: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the more conservative Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), and the even more conservative Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). These denominations provide seminaries, pastoral care, and Sunday School and liturgical materials. Local congregations contribute funds to support them and receive services and materials. Denominations help to start new congregations affiliated with them.
The ELCA is divided into 64 geographical and 1 non-geographical synods. The LCMS and WELS each constitute a single synod for the entire denomination. The ELCA has "Full Communion" agreements with The Episcopal Church (named Called to Common Mission), the Moravian Church, and the Reformed Churches in the United States. The ELCA is currently studying the issue of homosexuality, and will decide at its 2005 Churchwide assembly whether to bless same-sex marriage and clergy in active same-sex relationships.
U.S. denominations differ on doctrine and practice. Doctrinally the denominations differ primarily based on their acceptance of the theory of "higher criticism." LCMS and WELS mistrust this set of critical literature, which explicitly denies the miraculous provenance of many events described in the Bible. In contrast, many members of the ELCA believe that higher criticism represents the best efforts of modern scholarship.