Lutheranism is a major branch of western Christianity
that identifies with the teaching of Martin
Luther, a 16th century German reformer. Luther's
efforts to reform the theology and practice
of the church launched the Protestant Reformation.
The reaction of the government and church
authorities to the international spread of
his writings, beginning with the 95 Theses,
divided Western Christianity.The split between
the Lutherans and the Catholics was made public
and clear with the 1521 Edict of Worms: the
edicts of the Diet condemned Luther and officially
banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from
defending or propagating his ideas, subjecting
advocates of Lutheranism to forfeiture of
all property, half of the seized property
to be forfeit to the imperial government and
the remaining half forfeit to the party who
brought the accusation.The divide centered
primarily on two points: the proper source
of authority in the church, often called the
formal principle of the Reformation, and the
doctrine of justification, often called the
material principle of Lutheran theology. Lutheranism
advocates a doctrine of justification "by
grace alone through faith alone on the basis
of Scripture alone", the doctrine that scripture
is the final authority on all matters of faith.
This is in contrast to the belief of the Roman
Catholic Church, defined at the Council of
Trent, concerning authority coming from both
the Scriptures and Tradition.Unlike Calvinism,
Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices
and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation
Church, with a particular emphasis on the
Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. Lutheran theology
differs from Reformed theology in Christology,
divine grace, the purpose of God's Law, the
concept of perseverance of the saints, and
predestination.
== Etymology ==
The name Lutheran originated as a derogatory
term used against Luther by German Scholastic
theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during
the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other
Roman Catholics followed the traditional practice
of naming a heresy after its leader, thus
labeling all who identified with the theology
of Martin Luther as Lutherans.Martin Luther
always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring
the term Evangelical, which was derived from
euangelion, a Greek word meaning "good news",
i.e. "Gospel". The followers of John Calvin,
Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked
to the Reformed tradition also used that term.
To distinguish the two evangelical groups,
others began to refer to the two groups as
Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed.
As time passed by, the word Evangelical was
dropped. Lutherans themselves began to use
the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th
century, in order to distinguish themselves
from other groups such as the Anabaptists
and Calvinists.
In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined
the title Lutheran as referring to the true
church.
== History ==
Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin
Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church
to what he considered a more biblical foundation.
=== Spread into northern Europe ===
Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia
during the 16th century, as the monarch of
Denmark–Norway (also ruling Iceland and
the Faroe Islands) and the monarch of Sweden
(also ruling Finland) adopted Lutheranism.
Through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism
also spread into Estonia and Latvia.
Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have
been held in Copenhagen. Under the reign of
Frederick I (1523–33), Denmark–Norway
remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick
initially pledged to persecute Lutherans,
he soon adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran
preachers and reformers, the most significant
being Hans Tausen.During Frederick's reign,
Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark.
At an open meeting in Copenhagen attended
by the king in 1536, the people shouted; "We
will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not
want such bishops anymore". Frederick's son
Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented
his election to the throne upon his father's
death. However, following his victory in the
civil war that followed, in 1537 he became
Christian III and advanced the Reformation
in Denmark–Norway.
The constitution upon which the Danish Norwegian
Church, according to the Church Ordinance,
should rest was "The pure word of God, which
is the Law and the Gospel". It does not mention
the Augsburg Confession. The priests had to
understand the Holy Scripture well enough
to preach and explain the Gospel and the Epistles
for their congregations.
The youths were taught from Luther's Small
Catechism, available in Danish since 1532.
They were taught to expect at the end of life:
"forgiving of their sins", "to be counted
as just", and "the eternal life". Instruction
is still similar.
The first complete Bible in Danish was based
on Martin Luther's translation into German.
It was published in 1550, with 3,000 copies
printed in the first edition; a second edition
was published in 1589. Unlike Catholicism,
the Lutheran Church does not believe that
tradition is a carrier of the "Word of God",
or that only the communion of the Bishop of
Rome has been entrusted to interpret the "Word
of God".The Reformation in Sweden began with
Olaus and Laurentius Petri, brothers who took
the Reformation to Sweden after studying in
Germany. They led Gustav Vasa, elected king
in 1523, to Lutheranism. The pope's refusal
to allow the replacement of an archbishop
who had supported the invading forces opposing
Gustav Vasa during the Stockholm Bloodbath
led to the severing of any official connection
between Sweden and the papacy in 1523.Four
years later, at the Diet of Västerås, the
king succeeded in forcing the diet to accept
his dominion over the national church. The
king was given possession of all church properties,
as well as the church appointments and approval
of the clergy. While this effectively granted
official sanction to Lutheran ideas, Lutheranism
did not become official until 1593. At that
time the Uppsala Synod declared Holy Scripture
the sole guideline for faith, with four documents
accepted as faithful and authoritative explanations
of it: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed,
the Athanasian Creed, and the unaltered Augsburg
Confession of 1530. Mikael Agricola's translation
of the first Finnish New Testament was published
in 1548.
=== Counter-Reformation and controversies
===
After the death of Martin Luther in 1546,
the Schmalkaldic War started out as a conflict
between two German Lutheran rulers in 1547.
Soon, Holy Roman Imperial forces joined the
battle and conquered the members of the Schmalkaldic
League, oppressing and exiling many German
Lutherans as they enforced the terms of the
Augsburg Interim. Religious freedom in some
areas was secured for Lutherans through the
Peace of Passau in 1552, and under the legal
principle of Cuius regio, eius religio (the
religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion
of those ruled) and Declaratio Ferdinandei
(limited religious tolerance) clauses of the
Peace of Augsburg in 1555.Religious disputes
between the Crypto-Calvinists, Philippists,
Sacramentarians, Ubiquitarians and Gnesio-Lutherans
raged within Lutheranism during the middle
of the 16th century. This finally ended with
the resolution of the issues in the Formula
of Concord. Large numbers of politically and
religiously influential leaders met together,
debated, and resolved these topics on the
basis of Scripture, resulting in the Formula,
which over 8,000 leaders signed. The Book
of Concord replaced earlier, incomplete collections
of doctrine, unifying all German Lutherans
with identical doctrine and beginning the
period of Lutheran Orthodoxy.
=== Lutheran orthodoxy ===
The historical period of Lutheran Orthodoxy
is divided into three sections: Early Orthodoxy
(1580–1600), High Orthodoxy (1600–1685),
and Late Orthodoxy (1685–1730). Lutheran
scholasticism developed gradually especially
for the purpose of arguing with the Jesuits,
and it was finally established by Johann Gerhard.
Abraham Calovius represents the climax of
the scholastic paradigm in orthodox Lutheranism.
Other orthodox Lutheran theologians include
Martin Chemnitz, Aegidius Hunnius, Leonhard
Hutter, Nicolaus Hunnius, Jesper Rasmussen
Brochmand, Salomo Glassius, Johann Hülsemann,
Johann Conrad Dannhauer, Johannes Andreas
Quenstedt, Johann Friedrich König and Johann
Wilhelm Baier.
Near the end of the Thirty Years' War, the
compromising spirit seen in Philip Melanchthon
rose up again in Helmstedt School and especially
in theology of Georgius Calixtus, causing
the syncretistic controversy. Another theological
issue that arose was the Crypto-Kenotic controversy.
Late orthodoxy was torn by influences from
rationalism, philosophy based on reason, and
Pietism, a revival movement in Lutheranism.
After a century of vitality, the Pietist theologians
Philipp Jakob Spener and August Hermann Francke
warned that orthodoxy had degenerated into
meaningless intellectualism and Formalism,
while orthodox theologians found the emotional
and subjective focuses of Pietism to be vulnerable
to Rationalist propaganda. In, 1688 the Finnish
Radical Pietist Lars Ulstadius ran down the
main aisle of Turku Cathedral naked while
screaming that the disgrace of Finnish clergymen
would be revealed, like his current disgrace.
The last famous orthodox Lutheran theologian
before the rationalist Aufklärung, or Enlightenment,
was David Hollatz. Late orthodox theologian
Valentin Ernst Löscher took part in the controversy
against Pietism. Medieval mystical traditions
continued in the works of Martin Moller, Johann
Arndt, and Joachim Lütkemann. Pietism became
a rival of orthodoxy but adopted some orthodox
devotional literature; for example, Arndt's,
Christian Scriver's and Stephan Prätorius'
which were all Pietistic literature.
=== Rationalism ===
Rationalist philosophers from France and England
had an enormous impact during the 18th century,
along with the German Rationalists Christian
Wolff, Gottfried Leibniz and Immanuel Kant.
Their work led to an increase in rationalist
beliefs, "at the expense of faith in God and
agreement with the Bible".In 1709, Valentin
Ernst Löscher warned that this new Rationalist
view of the world fundamentally changed society
by drawing into question every aspect of theology.
Instead of considering the authority of divine
revelation, he explained, Rationalists relied
solely on their personal understanding when
searching for truth.Johann Melchior Goeze
(1717–1786), pastor of St. Catherine's Church,
Hamburg, wrote apologetical works against
Rationalists, including a theological and
historical defence against the historical
criticism of the Bible.Dissenting Lutheran
pastors were often reprimanded by the government
bureaucracy overseeing them, for example,
when they tried to correct Rationalist influences
in the parish school. As a result of the impact
of a local form of rationalism, termed Neology,
by the latter half of the 18th century, genuine
piety was found almost solely in small Pietist
conventicles. However, some of the laity preserved
Lutheran orthodoxy from both Pietism and rationalism
through reusing old catechisms, hymnbooks,
postils, and devotional writings, including
those written by Johann Gerhard, Heinrich
Müller and Christian Scriver.
=== Revivals ===
A layman, Luther scholar Johann Georg Hamann
(1730–1788), became famous for countering
Rationalism and striving to advance a revival
known as the Erweckung, or Awakening. In 1806,
Napoleon's invasion of Germany promoted Rationalism
and angered German Lutherans, stirring up
a desire among the people to preserve Luther's
theology from the Rationalist threat. Those
associated with this Awakening held that reason
was insufficient and pointed out the importance
of emotional religious experiences.Small groups
sprang up, often in universities, which devoted
themselves to Bible study, reading devotional
writings, and revival meetings. Although the
beginning of this Awakening tended heavily
toward Romanticism, patriotism, and experience,
the emphasis of the Awakening shifted around
1830 to restoring the traditional liturgy,
doctrine, and confessions of the Lutheran
church in the Neo-Lutheran movement.This Awakening
swept through all of Scandinavia though not
Iceland. It developed from both German Neo-Lutheranism
and Pietism. Danish pastor and philosopher
N. F. S. Grundtvig reshaped church life throughout
Denmark through a reform movement beginning
in 1830. He also wrote about 1,500 hymns,
including God's Word Is Our Great Heritage.In
Norway, Hans Nielsen Hauge, a lay street preacher,
emphasized spiritual discipline and sparked
the Haugean movement, which was followed by
the Johnsonian Awakening within the state-church.
The Awakening drove the growth of foreign
missions in Norway to non-Christians to a
new height, which has never been reached since.
In Sweden, Lars Levi Læstadius began the
Laestadian movement that emphasized moral
reform. In Finland, a farmer, Paavo Ruotsalainen,
began the Finnish Awakening when he took to
preaching about repentance and prayer.
In 1817, Frederick William III of Prussia
ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches
in his territory to unite, forming the Prussian
Union of Churches. The unification of the
two branches of German Protestantism sparked
the Schism of the Old Lutherans. Many Lutherans,
called "Old Lutherans", chose to leave the
state churches despite imprisonment and military
force. Some formed independent church bodies,
or "free churches", at home while others left
for the United States, Canada and Australia.
A similar legislated merger in Silesia prompted
thousands to join the Old Lutheran movement.
The dispute over ecumenism overshadowed other
controversies within German Lutheranism.Despite
political meddling in church life, local and
national leaders sought to restore and renew
Christianity. Neo-Lutheran Johann Konrad Wilhelm
Löhe and Old Lutheran free church leader
Friedrich August Brünn both sent young men
overseas to serve as pastors to German Americans,
while the Inner Mission focused on renewing
the situation home. Johann Gottfried Herder,
superintendent at Weimar and part of the Inner
Mission movement, joined with the Romantic
movement with his quest to preserve human
emotion and experience from Rationalism.Ernst
Wilhelm Hengstenberg, though raised Reformed,
became convinced of the truth of historic
Lutheranism as a young man. He led the Neo-Lutheran
Repristination School of theology, which advocated
a return to the orthodox theologians of the
17th century and opposed modern Bible scholarship.
As editor of the periodical Evangelische Kirchenzeitung,
he developed it into a major support of Neo-Lutheran
revival and used it to attack all forms of
theological liberalism and rationalism. Although
he received a large amount of slander and
ridicule during his forty years at the head
of revival, he never gave up his positions.The
theological faculty at the University of Erlangen
in Bavaria became another force for reform.
There, professor Adolf von Harless, though
previously an adherent of rationalism and
German idealism, made Erlangen a magnet for
revival oriented theologians. Termed the Erlangen
School of theology, they developed a new version
of the Incarnation, which they felt emphasized
the humanity of Jesus better than the ecumenical
creeds. As theologians, they used both modern
historical critical and Hegelian philosophical
methods instead of attempting to revive the
orthodoxy of the 17th century.Friedrich Julius
Stahl led the High Church Lutherans. Though
raised a Jew, he was baptized as a Christian
at the age of 19 through the influence of
the Lutheran school he attended. As the leader
of a neofeudal Prussian political party, he
campaigned for the divine right of kings,
the power of the nobility, and episcopal polity
for the church. Along with Theodor Kliefoth
and August Friedrich Christian Vilmar, he
promoted agreement with the Roman Catholic
Church with regard to the authority of the
institutional church, ex opere operato effectiveness
of the sacraments, and the divine authority
of clergy. Unlike Catholics, however, they
also urged complete agreement with the Book
of Concord.
The Neo-Lutheran movement managed to slow
secularism and counter atheistic Marxism,
but it did not fully succeed in Europe. It
partly succeeded in continuing the Pietist
movement's drive to right social wrongs and
focus on individual conversion. The Neo-Lutheran
call to renewal failed to achieve widespread
popular acceptance because it both began and
continued with a lofty, idealistic Romanticism
that did not connect with an increasingly
industrialized and secularized Europe. At
best, the work of local leaders resulted in
specific areas with vibrant spiritual renewal,
but people in Lutheran areas overall continued
to become increasingly distant from church
life. Additionally, the revival movements
were divided by philosophical traditions.
The Repristination school and Old Lutherans
tended towards Kantianism, while the Erlangen
school promoted a conservative Hegelian perspective.
By 1969, Manfried Kober complained that "unbelief
is rampant" even within German Lutheran parishes.
== Doctrine ==
=== 
Bible ===
Traditionally, Lutherans hold the Bible of
the Old and New Testaments to be the only
divinely inspired book, the only source of
divinely revealed knowledge, and the only
norm for Christian teaching. Scripture alone
is the formal principle of the faith, the
final authority for all matters of faith and
morals because of its inspiration, authority,
clarity, efficacy, and sufficiency.The authority
of the Scriptures has been challenged during
the history of Lutheranism. Martin Luther
taught that the Bible was the written Word
of God, and the only reliable guide for faith
and practice. He held that every passage of
Scripture has one straightforward meaning,
the literal sense as interpreted by other
Scripture. These teachings were accepted during
the orthodox Lutheranism of the 17th century.
During the 18th century, Rationalism advocated
reason rather than the authority of the Bible
as the final source of knowledge, but most
of the laity did not accept this Rationalist
position. In the 19th century, a confessional
revival re-emphasized the authority of the
Bible and agreement with the Lutheran Confessions.
Today, Lutherans disagree about the inspiration
and authority of the Bible. Theological conservatives
use the historical-grammatical method of Biblical
interpretation, while theological liberals
use the higher critical method. The 2008 U.S.
Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the
Pew Research Center surveyed 1,926 adults
in the United States that self-identified
as Lutheran. The study found that 30% believed
that the Bible was the Word of God and was
to be taken literally word for word. 40% held
that the Bible was the Word of God, but was
not literally true word for word or were unsure
if it was literally true word for word. 23%
said the Bible was written by men and not
the Word of God. 7% did not know, were not
sure, or had other positions.
==== Inspiration ====
Although many Lutherans today hold less specific
views of inspiration, historically, Lutherans
affirm that the Bible does not merely contain
the Word of God, but every word of it is,
because of plenary, verbal inspiration, the
direct, immediate word of God. The Apology
of the Augsburg Confession identifies Holy
Scripture with the Word of God and calls the
Holy Spirit the author of the Bible. Because
of this, Lutherans confess in the Formula
of Concord, "we receive and embrace with our
whole heart the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments as the pure,
clear fountain of Israel." The apocryphal
books were not written by the prophets nor
by inspiration; they contain errors and were
never included in the Judean Canon that Jesus
used; therefore they are not a part of Holy
Scripture. The prophetic and apostolic Scriptures
are authentic as written by the prophets and
apostles. A correct translation of their writings
is God's Word because it has the same meaning
as the original Hebrew and Greek. A mistranslation
is not God's word, and no human authority
can invest it with divine authority.
==== Clarity ====
Historically, Lutherans understand the Bible
to present all doctrines and commands of the
Christian faith clearly. In addition, Lutherans
believe that God's Word is freely accessible
to every reader or hearer of ordinary intelligence,
without requiring any special education. A
Lutheran must understand the language that
scriptures are presented in, and should not
be so preoccupied by error so as to prevent
understanding. As a result of this, Lutherans
do not believe there is a need to wait for
any clergy, pope, scholar, or ecumenical council
to explain the real meaning of any part of
the Bible.
==== Efficacy ====
Lutherans confess that Scripture is united
with the power of the Holy Spirit and with
it, not only demands, but also creates the
acceptance of its teaching. This teaching
produces faith and obedience. Holy Scripture
is not a dead letter, but rather, the power
of the Holy Spirit is inherent in it. Scripture
does not compel a mere intellectual assent
to its doctrine, resting on logical argumentation,
but rather it creates the living agreement
of faith. As the Smalcald Articles affirm,
"in those things which concern the spoken,
outward Word, we must firmly hold that God
grants His Spirit or grace to no one, except
through or with the preceding outward Word."
==== 
Sufficiency ====
Lutherans are confident that the Bible contains
everything that one needs to know in order
to obtain salvation and to live a Christian
life. There are no deficiencies in Scripture
that need to be filled with by tradition,
pronouncements of the Pope, new revelations,
or present-day development of doctrine.
==== Law and Gospel ====
Lutherans understand the Bible as containing
two distinct types of content, termed Law
and Gospel (or Law and Promises). Properly
distinguishing between Law and Gospel prevents
the obscuring of the Gospel teaching of justification
by grace through faith alone.
=== Lutheran confessions ===
The Book of Concord, published in 1580, contains
ten documents which some Lutherans believe
are faithful and authoritative explanations
of Holy Scripture. Besides the three Ecumenical
Creeds, which date to Roman times, the Book
of Concord contains seven credal documents
articulating Lutheran theology in the Reformation
era.
The doctrinal positions of Lutheran churches
are not uniform because the Book of Concord
does not hold the same position in all Lutheran
churches. For example, the state churches
in Scandinavia consider only the Augsburg
Confession as a "summary of the faith" in
addition to the three ecumenical Creeds. Lutheran
pastors, congregations, and church bodies
in Germany and the Americas usually agree
to teach in harmony with the entire Lutheran
Confessions. Some Lutheran church bodies require
this pledge to be unconditional because they
believe the confessions correctly state what
the Bible teaches. Others allow their congregations
to do so "insofar as" the Confessions are
in agreement with the Bible.
In addition, Lutherans accept the teachings
of the first seven ecumenical councils of
the Christian Church. The Augsburg Confession
teaches that "the faith as confessed by Luther
and his followers is nothing new, but the
true catholic faith, and that their churches
represent the true catholic or universal church".
When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg
Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,
they explained "that each article of faith
and practice was true first of all to Holy
Scripture, and then also to the teaching of
the church fathers and 
the councils."
=== Justification ===
The key doctrine, or material principle, of
Lutheranism is the doctrine of justification.
Lutherans believe that humans are saved from
their sins by God's grace alone (Sola Gratia),
through faith alone (Sola Fide), on the basis
of Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura). Orthodox
Lutheran theology holds that God made the
world, including humanity, perfect, holy and
sinless. However, Adam and Eve chose to disobey
God, trusting in their own strength, knowledge,
and wisdom. Consequently, people are saddled
with original sin, born sinful and unable
to avoid committing sinful acts. For Lutherans,
original sin is the "chief sin, a root and
fountainhead of all actual sins."Lutherans
teach that sinners, while capable of doing
works that are outwardly "good", are not capable
of doing works that satisfy God's justice.
Every human thought and deed is infected with
sin and sinful motives. Because of this, all
humanity deserves eternal damnation in hell.
God in eternity has turned His Fatherly heart
to this world and planned for its redemption
because he loves all people and does not want
anyone to be eternally damned.To this end,
"God sent his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord,
into the world to redeem and deliver us from
the power of the devil, and to bring us to
Himself, and to govern us as a King of righteousness,
life, and salvation against sin, death, and
an evil conscience," as Luther's Large Catechism
explains. Because of this, Lutherans teach
that salvation is possible only because of
the grace of God made manifest in the birth,
life, suffering, death, and resurrection,
and continuing presence by the power of the
Holy Spirit, of Jesus Christ. By God's grace,
made known and effective in the person and
work of Jesus Christ, a person is forgiven,
adopted as a child and heir of God, and given
eternal salvation. Christ, because he was
entirely obedient to the law with respect
to both his human and divine natures, "is
a perfect satisfaction and reconciliation
of the human race," as the Formula of Concord
asserts, and proceeds to summarize:
[Christ] submitted to the law for us, bore
our sin, and in going to his Father performed
complete and perfect obedience for us poor
sinners, from his holy birth to his death.
Thereby he covered all our disobedience, which
is embedded in our nature and in its thoughts,
words, and deeds, so that this disobedience
is not reckoned to us as condemnation but
is pardoned and forgiven by sheer grace, because
of Christ alone.
Lutherans believe that individuals receive
this gift of salvation through faith alone.
Saving faith is the knowledge of, acceptance
of, and trust in the promise of the Gospel.
Even faith itself is seen as a gift of God,
created in the hearts of Christians by the
work of the Holy Spirit through the Word and
Baptism. Faith receives the gift of salvation
rather than causes salvation. Thus, Lutherans
reject the "decision theology" which is common
among modern evangelicals.
Since the term grace has been defined differently
by other Christian church bodies (e.g. Roman
Catholicism) it is important to note that
Lutheranism defines grace as entirely limited
to God's gifts to us. Justification comes
as a pure gift, not something we merit by
changed behavior or in which we cooperate.
Grace is not about our response to God's gifts,
but only His gifts.
=== Trinity ===
Lutherans are Trinitarian. Lutherans reject
the idea that the Father and God the Son are
merely faces of the same person, stating that
both the Old Testament and the New Testament
show them to be two distinct persons. Lutherans
believe the Holy Spirit proceeds from both
the Father and the Son. In the words of the
Athanasian Creed:
"We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity
in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons,
nor dividing the Substance. For there is one
Person of the Father, another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead
of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty
coeternal."
=== 
Two natures of Christ ===
Lutherans believe Jesus is the Christ, the
savior promised in the Old Testament. They
believe he is both by nature God and by nature
man in one person, as they confess in Luther's
Small Catechism that he is "true God begotten
of the Father from eternity and also true
man born of the Virgin Mary".The Augsburg
Confession explains:
[T]he Son of God, did assume the human nature
in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so
that there are two natures, the divine and
the human, inseparably enjoined in one Person,
one Christ, true God and true man, who was
born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was
crucified, dead, and buried, that He might
reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice,
not only for original guilt, but also for
all actual sins of men.
=== Sacraments ===
Lutherans hold that sacraments are sacred
acts of divine institution. Whenever they
are properly administered by the use of the
physical component commanded by God along
with the divine words of institution, God
is, in a way specific to each sacrament, present
with the Word and physical component. He earnestly
offers to all who receive the sacrament forgiveness
of sins and eternal salvation. He also works
in the recipients to get them to accept these
blessings and to increase the assurance of
their possession.Lutherans are not dogmatic
about the number of the sacraments. In line
with Luther's initial statement in his Large
Catechism some speak of only two sacraments,
Baptism and Holy Communion, although later
in the same work he calls Confession and Absolution
"the third sacrament." The definition of sacrament
in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession
lists Absolution as one of them. With the
exception of Laestadian Lutherans, Private
Confession is not practiced among Lutherans
as often as in the Catholic Church. Rather,
it is expected before receiving the Eucharist
for the first time. Some churches also allow
for individual absolution on Saturdays before
the Eucharistic service. A general confession
and absolution (known as the Penitential Rite)
is proclaimed in the Eucharistic liturgy.
==== Baptism ====
Lutherans hold that Baptism is a saving work
of God, mandated and instituted by Jesus Christ.
Baptism is a "means of grace" through which
God creates and strengthens "saving faith"
as the "washing of regeneration" in which
infants and adults are reborn. Since the creation
of faith is exclusively God's work, it does
not depend on the actions of the one baptized,
whether infant or adult. Even though baptized
infants cannot articulate that faith, Lutherans
believe that it is present all the same.It
is faith alone that receives these divine
gifts, so Lutherans confess that baptism "works
forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and
the devil, and gives eternal salvation to
all who believe this, as the words and promises
of God declare." Lutherans hold fast to the
Scripture cited in 1 Peter 3:21, "Baptism,
which corresponds to this, now saves you,
not as a removal of dirt from the body but
as an appeal to God for a good conscience,
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Therefore, Lutherans administer Baptism to
both infants and adults. In the special section
on infant baptism in his Large Catechism,
Luther argues that infant baptism is God-pleasing
because persons so baptized were reborn and
sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
==== Eucharist ====
Lutherans hold that within the Eucharist,
also referred to as the Sacrament of the Altar,
the Mass, or the Lord's Supper, the true body
and blood of Christ are truly present "in,
with, and under the forms" of the consecrated
bread and wine for all those who eat and drink
it, a doctrine that the Formula of Concord
calls the sacramental union.
==== Confession ====
Many Lutherans receive the sacrament of penance
before receiving the Eucharist. Prior to going
to Confessing and receiving Absolution, the
faithful are expected to examine their lives
in light of the Ten Commandments. An order
of Confession and Absolution is contained
in the Small Catechism, as well as in liturgical
books. Lutherans typically kneel at the communion
rails to confess their sins, while the confessor
listens and then offers absolution while laying
their stole on the penitent's head. Clergy
are prohibited from revealing anything said
during private Confession and Absolution per
the Seal of the Confessional, and face excommunication
if it is violated. Apart from this, Laestadian
Lutherans have a practice of lay confession.
=== Conversion ===
In Lutheranism, conversion or regeneration
in the strict sense of the term is the work
of divine grace and power by which man, born
of the flesh, and void of all power to think,
to will, or to do any good thing, and dead
in sin is, through the gospel and holy baptism,
taken from a state of sin and spiritual death
under God's wrath into a state of spiritual
life of faith and grace, rendered able to
will and to do what is spiritually good and,
especially, made to trust in the benefits
of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.During
conversion, one is moved from impenitence
to repentance. The Augsburg Confession divides
repentance into two parts: "One is contrition,
that is, terrors smiting the conscience through
the knowledge of sin; the other is faith,
which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution,
and believes that for Christ's sake, sins
are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and
delivers it from terrors."
=== 
Predestination ===
Lutherans adhere to divine monergism, the
teaching that salvation is by God's act alone,
and therefore reject the idea that humans
in their fallen state have a free will concerning
spiritual matters. Lutherans believe that
although humans have free will concerning
civil righteousness, they cannot work spiritual
righteousness in the heart without the presence
and aid of the Holy Spirit. Lutherans believe
Christians are "saved"; that all who trust
in Christ alone and his promises can be certain
of their salvation.According to Lutheranism,
the central final hope of the Christian is
"the resurrection of the body and the life
everlasting" as confessed in the Apostles'
Creed rather than predestination. Lutherans
disagree with those who make predestination—rather
than Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection—the
source of salvation. Unlike some Calvinists,
Lutherans do not believe in a predestination
to damnation, usually referencing "God our
Savior, who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth"
as contrary evidence to such a claim. Instead,
Lutherans teach eternal damnation is a result
of the unbeliever's sins, rejection of the
forgiveness of sins, and unbelief.
=== Divine providence ===
According to Lutherans, God preserves his
creation, cooperates with everything that
happens, and guides the universe. While God
cooperates with both good and evil deeds,
with evil deeds he does so only inasmuch as
they are deeds, but not with the evil in them.
God concurs with an act's effect, but he does
not cooperate in the corruption of an act
or the evil of its effect. Lutherans believe
everything exists for the sake of the Christian
Church, and that God guides everything for
its welfare and growth.The explanation of
the Apostles' Creed given in the Small Catechism
declares that everything good that people
have is given and preserved by God, either
directly or through other people or things.
Of the services others provide us through
family, government, and work, "we receive
these blessings not from them, but, through
them, from God." Since God uses everyone's
useful tasks for good, people should not look
down upon some useful vocations as being less
worthy than others. Instead people should
honor others, no matter how lowly, as being
the means God uses to work in the world.
=== Good works ===
Lutherans believe that good works are the
fruit of faith, always and in every instance.
Good works have their origin in God, not in
the fallen human heart or in human striving;
their absence would demonstrate that faith,
too, is absent. Lutherans do not believe that
good works are a factor in obtaining salvation;
they believe that we are saved by the grace
of God—based on the merit of Christ in his
suffering and death—and faith in the Triune
God. Good works are the natural result of
faith, not the cause of salvation. Although
Christians are no longer compelled to keep
God's law, they freely and willingly serve
God and their neighbors.
=== Judgment and eternal life ===
Lutherans do not believe in any sort of earthly
millennial kingdom of Christ either before
or after his second coming on the last day.
Lutherans teach that, at death, the souls
of Christians are immediately taken into the
presence of Jesus, where they await the second
coming of Jesus on the last day. On the last
day, all the bodies of the dead will be resurrected.Their
souls will then be reunited with the same
bodies they had before dying. The bodies will
then be changed, those of the wicked to a
state of everlasting shame and torment, those
of the righteous to an everlasting state of
celestial glory. After the resurrection of
all the dead, and the change of those still
living, all nations shall be gathered before
Christ, and he will separate the righteous
from the wicked.Christ will publicly judge
all people by the testimony of their deeds,
the good works of the righteous in evidence
of their faith, and the evil works of the
wicked in evidence of their unbelief. He will
judge in righteousness in the presence of
all people and angels, and his final judgment
will be just damnation to everlasting punishment
for the wicked and a gracious gift of life
everlasting to the righteous.
=== Comparison among Protestants ===
Protestant beliefs about salvation vary.
This table summarizes the classical views
of three Protestant beliefs about salvation.
== Practices ==
=== 
Liturgy ===
Lutherans place great emphasis on a liturgical
approach to worship services; although there
are substantial non-liturgical minorities,
for example, the Haugean Lutherans from Norway.
Martin Luther was a great fan of music, and
this is why it forms a large part of Lutheran
services; in particular, Luther admired the
composers Josquin des Prez and Ludwig Senfl
and wanted singing in the church to move away
from the ars perfecta (Catholic Sacred Music
of the late Renaissance) and towards singing
as a Gemeinschaft (community). Lutheran hymns
are sometimes known as chorales. Lutheran
hymnody is well known for its doctrinal, didactic,
and musical richness. Most Lutheran churches
are active musically with choirs, handbell
choirs, children's choirs, and occasionally
change ringing groups that ring bells in a
bell tower. Johann Sebastian Bach, a devout
Lutheran, composed music for the Lutheran
church.
Lutherans also preserve a liturgical approach
to the celebration of the Mass (or the Holy
Eucharist/Communion), emphasizing the sacrament
as the central act of Christian worship. Lutherans
believe that the actual body and blood of
Jesus Christ are present in, with and under
the bread and the wine. This belief is called
Real Presence or sacramental union and is
different from consubstantiation and transubstantiation.
Additionally Lutherans reject the idea that
communion is a mere symbol or memorial. They
confess in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
[W]e do not abolish the Mass but religiously
keep and defend it. Among us the Mass is celebrated
every Lord's Day and on other festivals, when
the Sacrament is made available to those who
wish to partake of it, after they have been
examined and absolved. We also keep traditional
liturgical forms, such as the order of readings,
prayers, vestments, and other similar things.
Besides the Holy Communion (Divine Service),
congregations also hold offices, which are
worship services without communion. They may
include Matins, Vespers, Compline, and Easter
Vigil. Private or family offices include the
Morning and Evening Prayers from Luther's
Small Catechism. Meals are blessed with the
Common Table Prayer, Psalm 145:15–16, or
other prayers, and after eating the Lord is
thanked, for example, with Psalm 136:1. In
addition, Lutherans use devotional books,
from small daily devotionals, for example,
Portals of Prayer, to large breviaries, including
the Breviarium Lipsiensae and Treasury of
Daily Prayer.
The predominant rite used by the Lutheran
Churches is a Western one based on the Formula
missae ("Form of the Mass") although other
Lutheran liturgies are also in use, such as
those used in the Byzantine Rite Lutheran
Churches, such as the Ukrainian Lutheran Church
and Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession
in Slovenia. Although Luther's Deutsche Messe
was completely chanted except for the sermon,
this is usually not the case today.
In the 1970s, many Lutheran churches began
holding contemporary worship services for
the purpose of evangelistic outreach. These
services were in a variety of styles, depending
on the preferences of the congregation. Often
they were held alongside a traditional service
in order to cater to those who preferred contemporary
worship music. Today, few but some Lutheran
congregations have contemporary worship as
their sole form of worship. Outreach is no
longer given as the primary motivation; rather
this form of worship is seen as more in keeping
with the desires of individual congregations.
In Finland, Lutherans have experimented with
the St Thomas Mass and Metal Mass in which
traditional hymns are adapted to heavy metal.
Some Laestadians enter a heavily emotional
and ecstatic state during worship. The Lutheran
World Federation, in its Nairobi Statement
on Worship and Culture, recommended every
effort be made to bring church services into
a more sensitive position with regard to cultural
context.
In 2006, both the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church–Missouri
Synod (LCMS), in cooperation with certain
foreign English speaking church bodies within
their respective fellowships, released new
hymnals: Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELCA)
and Lutheran Service Book (LCMS). Along with
these, the most widely used among English
speaking congregations include: Evangelical
Lutheran Hymnary (1996, Evangelical Lutheran
Synod), The Lutheran Book of Worship (1978,
Lutheran Council in the United States of America),
Lutheran Worship (1982, LCMS), Christian Worship
(1993, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod),
and The Lutheran Hymnal (1941, Evangelical
Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America).
In the Lutheran Church of Australia, the official
hymnal is the Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement
of 1986, which includes a supplement to the
Lutheran Hymnal of 1973, itself a replacement
for the Australian Lutheran Hymn Book of 1921.
Prior to this time, the two Lutheran church
bodies in Australia (which merged in 1966)
used a bewildering variety of hymnals, usually
in the German language. Spanish-speaking ELCA
churches frequently use Libro de Liturgia
y Cántico (1998, Augsburg Fortress) for services
and hymns. For a more complete list, see List
of English language Lutheran hymnals.
=== Missions ===
Sizable Lutheran missions arose for the first
time during the 19th century. Early missionary
attempts during the century after the Reformation
did not succeed. However, European traders
brought Lutheranism to Africa beginning in
the 17th century as they settled along the
coasts. During the first half of the 19th
century, missionary activity in Africa expanded,
including preaching by missionaries, translation
of the Bible, and education.Lutheranism came
to India beginning with the work of Bartholomäus
Ziegenbalg, where a community totaling several
thousand developed, complete with their own
translation of the Bible, catechism, their
own hymnal, and system of Lutheran schools.
In the 1840s, this church experienced a revival
through the work of the Leipzig Mission, including
Karl Graul. After German missionaries were
expelled in 1914, Lutherans in India became
entirely autonomous, yet preserved their Lutheran
character. In recent years India has relaxed
its anti-religious conversion laws, allowing
a resurgence in missionary work.
In Latin America, missions began to serve
European immigrants of Lutheran background,
both those who spoke German and those who
no longer did. These churches in turn began
to evangelize those in their areas who were
not of European background, including indigenous
peoples.In 1892, the first Lutheran missionaries
reached Japan. Although work began slowly
and a major setback occurred during the hardships
of WWII. Lutheranism there has survived and
become self-sustaining. After missionaries
to China, including those of the Lutheran
Church of China, were expelled, they began
ministry in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the latter
which became a center of Lutheranism in Asia.The
Lutheran Mission in New Guinea, though founded
only in 1953, became the largest Lutheran
mission in the world in only several decades.
Through the work of native lay evangelists,
many tribes of diverse languages were reached
with the Gospel.Today the Lutheran World Federation
operates Lutheran World Relief, a relief and
development agency active in more than 50
countries.
=== Education ===
Catechism instruction is considered foundational
in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain
Sunday Schools, and some host or maintain
Lutheran schools, at the preschool, elementary,
middle, high school, folk high school, or
university level. Lifelong study of the catechism
is intended for all ages so that the abuses
of the pre-Reformation Church will not recur.
Lutheran schools have always been a core aspect
of Lutheran mission work, starting with Bartholomew
Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Putschasu, who began
work in India in year 1706. During the Counter-Reformation
era in German speaking areas, backstreet Lutheran
schools were the main Lutheran institution
among crypto-Lutherans.Pastors almost always
have substantial theological educations, including
Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew so that they
can refer to the Christian scriptures in the
original language. Pastors usually teach in
the common language of the local congregation.
In the U.S., some congregations and synods
historically taught in German, Danish, Finnish,
Norwegian, or Swedish, but retention of immigrant
languages has been in significant decline
since the early and middle 20th century.
=== Church fellowship ===
Lutherans were divided about the issue of
church fellowship for the first thirty years
after Luther's death. Philipp Melanchthon
and his Philippist party felt that Christians
of different beliefs should join in union
with each other without completely agreeing
on doctrine. Against them stood the Gnesio-Lutherans,
led by Matthias Flacius and the faculty at
the University of Jena. They condemned the
Philippist position for indifferentism, describing
it as a "unionistic compromise" of precious
Reformation theology. Instead, they held that
genuine unity between Christians and real
theological peace was only possible with an
honest agreement about every subject of doctrinal
controversy.
Complete agreement finally came about in 1577,
after the death of both Melanchthon and Flacius,
when a new generation of theologians resolved
the doctrinal controversies on the basis of
Scripture in the Formula of Concord of 1577.
Although they decried the visible division
of Christians on earth, orthodox Lutherans
avoided ecumenical fellowship with other churches,
believing that Christians should not, for
example, join together for the Lord's Supper
or exchange pastors if they do not completely
agree about what the Bible teaches. In the
17th century, Georgius Calixtus began a rebellion
against this practice, sparking the Syncretistic
Controversy with Abraham Calovius as his main
opponent.In the 18th century, there was some
ecumenical interest between the Church of
Sweden and the Church of England. John Robinson,
Bishop of London, planned for a union of the
English and Swedish churches in 1718. The
plan failed because most Swedish bishops rejected
the Calvinism of the Church of England, although
Jesper Swedberg and Johannes Gezelius the
younger, bishops of Skara, Sweden and Turku,
Finland, were in favor. With the encouragement
of Swedberg, church fellowship was established
between Swedish Lutherans and Anglicans in
the Middle Colonies. Over the course of the
1700s and the early 1800s, Swedish Lutherans
were absorbed into Anglican churches, with
the last original Swedish congregation completing
merger into the Episcopal Church in 1846.In
the 19th century, Samuel Simon Schmucker attempted
to lead the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod
of the United States toward unification with
other American Protestants. His attempt to
get the synod to reject the Augsburg Confession
in favor of his compromising Definite Platform
failed. Instead, it sparked a Neo-Lutheran
revival, prompting many to form the General
Council, including Charles Porterfield Krauth.
Their alternative approach was "Lutheran pulpits
for Lutheran ministers only and Lutheran altars...for
Lutheran communicants only."
Beginning in 1867, confessional and liberal
minded Lutherans in Germany joined together
to form the Common Evangelical Lutheran Conference
against the ever looming prospect of a state-mandated
union with the Reformed. However, they failed
to reach consensus on the degree of shared
doctrine necessary for church union. Eventually,
the fascist German Christians movement pushed
the final national merger of Lutheran, Union,
and Reformed church bodies into a single Reich
Church in 1933, doing away with the previous
umbrella German Evangelical Church Confederation
(DEK). As part of denazification the Reich
Church was formally done away with in 1945,
and certain clergy were removed from their
positions. However, the merger between the
Lutheran, United, and Reformed state churches
was retained under the name Evangelical Church
in Germany (EKD). In 1948 the Lutheran church
bodies within the EKD founded the United Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), but it
has since been reduced from being an independent
legal entity to an administrative unit within
the EKD.
Presently, Lutherans are divided over how
to interact with other Christian denominations.
Some Lutherans assert that everyone must share
the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27) in
complete unity (1 Cor. 1:10) before pastors
can share each other's pulpits, and before
communicants commune at each other's altars,
a practice termed closed (or close) communion.
On the other hand, other Lutherans practice
varying degrees of open communion and allow
preachers from other Christian denominations
in their pulpits.
While not an issue in the majority of Lutheran
church bodies, some of them forbid membership
in Freemasonry. Partly, this is because the
lodge is viewed as spreading Unitarianism,
as the Brief Statement of the LCMS reads,
"Hence we warn against Unitarianism, which
in our country has to a great extent impenetrated
the sects and is being spread particularly
also through the influence of the lodges."
A 1958 report from the publishing house of
the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod states
that, "Masonry is guilty of idolatry. Its
worship and prayers are idol worship. The
Masons may not with their hands have made
an idol out of gold, silver, wood or stone,
but they created one with their own mind and
reason out of purely human thoughts and ideas.
The latter is an idol no less than the former."
The largest organizations of Lutheran churches
around the world are the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF), the Global Confessional and Missional
Lutheran Forum, the International Lutheran
Council (ILC), and the Confessional Evangelical
Lutheran Conference (CELC). These organizations
together account for the great majority of
Lutheran denominations. The LCMS and the Lutheran
Church–Canada are members of the ILC. The
WELS and ELS are members of the CELC. Many
Lutheran churches are not affiliated with
the LWF, the ILC or the CELC: The congregations
of the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC)
are affiliated with their mission organizations
in Canada, India, Nepal, Myanmar, and many
African nations; and those affiliated with
the Church of the Lutheran Brethren are especially
active doing mission work in Africa and East
Asia.
The Lutheran World Federation-aligned churches
do not believe that one church is singularly
true in its teachings. According to this belief,
Lutheranism is a reform movement rather than
a movement into doctrinal correctness. As
part of this, in 1999 the LWF and the Roman
Catholic Church jointly issued a statement,
the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,
that stated that the LWF and the Catholics
both agreed about certain basics of Justification
and lifted certain Catholic anathemas formerly
applying to the LWF member churches.The LCMS
has participated in most of the of the official
dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church since
shortly after the Second Vatican Council,
though not the one which produced the Joint
Declaration and to which they were not invited.
While some Lutheran theologians saw the Joint
Declaration as a sign that the Catholics were
essentially adopting the Lutheran position,
other Lutheran theologians disagreed, claiming
that, considering the public documentation
of the Catholic position, this assertion does
not hold up.
Besides their intra-Lutheran arrangements,
some member churches of the LWF have also
declared full communion with non-Lutheran
Protestant churches. The Porvoo Communion
is a communion of episcopally led Lutheran
and Anglican churches in Europe. Beside its
membership in the Porvoo Communion, Church
of Sweden also has declared full communion
with the Philippine Independent Church and
the United Methodist Church. The state Protestant
churches in Germany many other European countries
have signed the Leuenberg Agreement to form
the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
has been involved in ecumenical dialogues
with several denominations. The ELCA has declared
full communion with multiple American Protestant
churches.Although on paper the LWF churches
have all declared have full communion with
each other, in practice some churches within
the LWF have renounced ties with specific
other churches. One development in this ongoing
schism is the Global Confessional and Missional
Lutheran Forum, which consists of churches
and church related organizations tracing their
heritage back to mainline American Lutheranism
in North America, European state churches,
as well as certain African churches. As of
2019, the Forum is not a full communion organization.
Similar in this structure is the International
Lutheran Council, where issues of communion
are left to the individual denominations.
Not all ILC churches have declared church-fellowship
with each other. In contrast, mutual church-fellowship
is part of the CELC member churches, and unlike
in the LWF, this is not contradicted by individual
statements from any particular member church
body.
Laestadians within certain European state
churches maintain close ties to other Laestadians,
often called Apostolic Lutherans. Altogether,
Laestadians are found in 23 countries across
five continents, but there is no single organization
which represents them. Laestadians operate
Peace Associations to coordinate their churchly
efforts. Nearly all are located in Europe,
although they there are 15 combined in North
America, Ecuador, Togo, and Kenya.
By contrast, the Confessional Evangelical
Lutheran Conference and International Lutheran
Council as well as some unaffiliated denominations
such as the Church of the Lutheran Confession
and North American Laestadians maintain that
the orthodox confessional Lutheran churches
are the only churches with completely correct
doctrine. They teach that while other Christian
churches teach partially orthodox doctrine
and have true Christians as members, the doctrines
of those churches contain significant errors.
More conservative Lutherans strive to maintain
historical distinctiveness while emphasizing
doctrinal purity alongside Gospel-motivated
outreach. They claim that LWF Lutherans are
practicing "fake ecumenism" by desiring church
fellowship outside of actual unity of teaching.Although
not an "ecumenical" movement in the formal
sense, in the 1990s influences from the megachurches
of American evangelicalism have become somewhat
common. Many of the largest Lutheran congregations
in the United States have been heavily influenced
by these "progressive Evangelicals." These
influences are sharply criticized by some
Lutherans as being foreign to orthodox Lutheran
beliefs.
=== Polity ===
Lutheran polity varies depending on influences.
Although Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession
mandates that one must be "properly called"
to preach or administer the Sacraments, some
Lutherans have a broad view of on what constitutes
this and thus allow lay preaching or students
still studying to be pastors someday to consecrate
the Lord's Supper. Despite considerable diversity,
Lutheran polity trends in a geographically
predictable manner in Europe, with episcopal
governance to the north and east but blended
and consistorial-presbyterian type synodical
governance in Germany.
==== Scandinavia ====
To the north in Scandinavia, the population
was more insulated from the influence and
politics of the Reformation and thus the Church
of Sweden (which at the time included Finland)
retained the Apostolic succession, although
they did not consider it essential for valid
sacraments as the Donatists did in the fourth
and fifth centuries and the Roman Catholics
do today. Recently, the Swedish succession
was introduced into all of the Porvoo Communion
churches, all of which have an episcopal polity.
Although the Lutheran churches did not require
this or change their doctrine, this was important
in order for more strictly high church Anglican
individuals to feel comfortable recognizing
their sacraments as valid. It should be noted
for context that the occasional ordination
of a bishop by a priest was not necessarily
considered an invalid ordination in the Middle
Ages, so the alleged break in the line of
succession in the other Nordic Churches would
have been considered a violation of canon
law rather than an invalid ordination at the
time. Moreover, there are no consistent records
detailing pre-Reformation ordinations prior
to the 12th century.In the far north of the
Scandinavian peninsula are the Sámi people
some of which practice a form of Lutheranism
called Laestadianism or Apostolic Lutheranism
through the efforts of Laestadius, although
others are Orthodox in religion. In Apostolic
Lutheranism, bishops are considered to be
part of an unbroken line down from the Apostles
and wield more practical authority than most
Lutheran clergy. In Russia, Laestadians of
Lutheran background cooperate with the Ingrian
church, but since Laestadianism is an interdenominational
movement, some are Eastern Orthodox. Eastern
Orthodox Laestadians are known as Ushkovayzet
(article is in Russian).
==== Eastern Europe and Asian Russia ====
Although historically Pietism had a significant
influence on the understanding of the ministry
among Lutherans in the Russian Empire, today
nearly all Russian and Ukrainian Lutherans
are influenced by Eastern Orthodox polity.
In their culture, giving a high degree of
respect and authority to their bishops is
necessary for their faith to be seen as legitimate
and not sectarian. In Russia, lines of succession
between bishops and the canonical authority
between their present-day hierarchy is also
carefully maintained in order to legitimize
the existing Lutheran churches as present
day successors of the former Lutheran Church
of the Russian Empire originally authorized
by Catherine the Great. This allows for the
post-Soviet repatriation of Lutheran church
buildings to local congregations on the basis
of this historical connection.
==== Germany ====
In Germany, several dynamics encouraged Lutherans
to maintain a different form of polity. First,
due to de facto practice during the Nuremberg
Religious Peace the subsequent legal principal
of Cuius regio, eius religio in the 1555 Peace
of Augsburg, German states were officially
either Catholic or "Evangelical" (that is,
Lutheran under the Augsburg Confession). In
some areas both Catholic and Lutheran churches
were permitted to co-exist. Because German
speaking Catholic areas were nearby Catholic
leaning Christians were able to emigrate and
there was less of an issue with Catholics
choosing to live as crypto-papists in Lutheran
areas. Although Reformed leaning Christians
were not allowed to have churches, Melancthon
wrote Augsburg Confession Variata which some
used to claim legal protection as "Evangelical"
churches. Many chose to live as crypto-Calvinists
either with or without the protection offered
by the Variata, but this didn't make their
influence go away, and as a result the Protestant
church in Germany as of 2017 was only about
~40% Lutheran, with most of the rest being
United Protestant, a combination of Lutheran
and Reformed beliefs and practices.
In terms of polity, over 17th and 18th centuries
the carefully negotiated and highly prescriptive
church orders of the Reformation era gave
way to a joint cooperation between state control
and a Reformed-style blend of consistorial
and presbyterian type synodical governance.
Just as negotiations over the details in the
church orders involved the laity, so did the
new synodical governance. Synodical governance
had already been practiced in the Reformed
Netherlands prior to its adoption by Lutherans.
During the formation of the modern German
state, ideas about the nature of authority
and the best design for governments and organizations
came from the philosophies Kant and Hegel,
further modifying the polity. When the monarchy
and the sovereign governance of the church
was ended in 1918, the synods took over the
governance of the state churches.
==== Western Hemisphere and Australia ====
During the period of the emigration, Lutherans
took their existing ideas about polity with
them across the ocean, though with the exception
of the early Swedish Lutherans immigrants
of the New Sweden colony who accepted the
rule of the Anglican bishops and became part
of the established church, they now had to
fund churches on their own. This increased
the congregationalist dynamic in the blended
consistorial and presbyterian type synodical
governance. The first organized church body
of Lutherans in America was the Pennsylvania
Ministerium, which used Reformed style synodical
governance over the 18th and 19th centuries.
Their contribution to the development of polity
was that smaller synods could in turn form
a larger body, also with synodical governance,
but without losing their lower level of governance.
As a result, the smaller synods gained unprecedented
flexibility to join, leave, merge, or stay
separate, all without the hand of the state
as had been the case in Europe.
During their 19th century persecution, Old
Lutheran believers were left in a bind. Resistance
to authority was disobedient, but upholding
the true doctrine and right practice was also
disobedient. Fortunately the doctrine of the
lesser magistrate could be employed, whereby
clergy could legitimately resist the state
and even leave. illegal free churches were
set up in Germany and mass emigration occurred.
For decades the new churches were mostly dependent
on the free churches to send them new ministerial
candidates for ordination. These new church
bodies also employed synodical governance,
but tended to exclude Hegelianism in their
constitutions due to its incompatibility with
the doctrine of the lesser magistrates. In
contrast to Hegelianism where authority flows
in from all levels, Kantianism presents authority
flowing only from the top down, hence the
need for a lesser magistrate to become the
new top magistrate.
Over the 20th and 20th century, some Lutheran
bodies have adopted a more congregationalist
approach, such as the Protest'ant Conference
and the Lutheran Congregations in Mission
for Christ, or LCMC. The LCMC formed due to
a church split after the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America signed an agreement with
the Episcopalians to start ordaining all of
their new bishops into the Episcopalian Apostolic
succession. In other words, this meant that
new ELCA bishops, at least at first, would
be jointly ordained by Anglican bishops as
well as Lutheran bishops so that the more
strict Episcopalians would recognize their
sacraments as valid. This was offensive to
some in the ELCA at the time because of the
implications this had on the priesthood of
all believers and the nature of ordination.
Today, some churches allow dual-rostering.
Situations like this one where a church or
church body belongs to multiple larger organizations
that do not have ties are termed "triangular
fellowship." Another variant are independent
Lutheran churches, although for some independent
churches the clergy are members of a larger
denomination. In other cases, a congregation
may belong to a synod, but the pastor may
be unaffiliated. In the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, the Wisconsin Synod, the
Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Church of
the Lutheran Confession, and the Missouri
Synod, teachers at parochial schools are considered
to be clergy, with the latter defending this
before the Supreme Court in 2012. However,
differences remain in the precise status the
status of their teachers and the transfer
of authority in the power of the keys as exercised
by teachers.
== Throughout the world ==
Today, millions belong to Lutheran churches,
which are present on all populated continents.
The Lutheran World Federation estimates the
total membership of its churches over 74 million.
This figure miscounts Lutherans worldwide
as not all Lutheran churches belong to this
organization, and many members of merged LWF
church bodies do not self-identify as Lutheran
or attend congregations that self-identify
as Lutheran. Lutheran churches in North America,
Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean regions
are experiencing decreases and no growth in
membership, while those in Africa and Asia
continue to grow. Lutheranism is the largest
religious group in Denmark, the Faroe Islands,
Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland,
Latvia, Namibia, and North Dakota and South
Dakota in the United States.
Lutheranism is also the dominant form of Christianity
in the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache
nations. In addition, Lutheranism is a main
Protestant denomination in Germany (behind
United Protestant (Lutheran & Reformed) churches;
EKD Protestants form about 26.1% of the country's
total population), Estonia, Poland, Austria,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania.
Although some convents and monasteries voluntarily
closed during the Reformation, and many of
the remaining damenstift were shuttered by
communist authorities following World War
II, the Lüne abbeys are still open. Nearly
all active Lutheran orders are located in
Europe.
Although Namibia is the only country outside
Europe to have a Lutheran majority, there
are sizable Lutheran bodies in other African
countries. In the following African countries,
the total number of Lutherans exceeds 100,000:
Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya,
Malawi, Congo, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe,
and Madagascar. In addition, the following
nations also have sizable Lutheran populations:
Canada, France, the Czech Republic, Poland,
Hungary, Slovakia, Brazil, Malaysia, India,
Indonesia, the Netherlands (as a synod within
the PKN and two strictly Lutheran denominations),
South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the
United States, especially in the heavily German
and Scandinavian Upper Midwest.Lutheranism
is also a state religion in Iceland, Norway,
Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.
Finland has its Lutheran church established
as a national church. Similarly, Sweden also
has its national church, which was a state
church until 2000.This map shows where members
of LWF member churches were located in 2013.
== Lutheran bodies ==
List of Lutheran denominations
List of Lutheran denominations in North America
List of Lutheran clergy
List of Lutheran colleges and universities
List of Lutheran dioceses and archdioceses
List of Lutheran churches
List of Lutheran schools in Australia
Lutheran orders (both loose social organizations
and physical communities such as convents.)
== Notes
