Lutheranism

The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. See Protestantism for further discussion.

History of Lutheranism

Early history

Lutheranism as a movement traces its origin to the work of Martin Luther, a German religious scholar who sought to reform the practices of the Roman Catholic Church in the early 16th century. The symbolic beginning of the Protestant Reformation occurred when Luther posted his 95 theses (95 points on which he challenged Roman Catholic dogma and practices) on the door of the Wittenberg Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31st, 1517.

Between 1517 and 1520, Luther preached and published his scathing criticisms of the Roman Church in books and pamphlets. His ideas were supported by many other Christian theologians, and they also had a certain populist appeal. As a result, Luther gained many supporters and followers from all levels of society, from peasants who considered him a folk hero, to knights who swore to protect him. Luther also gained some powerful enemies, including the Pope in Rome and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Concerned about the "problem" of Luther, the Pope and Roman Catholic officials decided to send Luther a document called the "Exsurge Domine" in 1520, which called on Luther to recant and abandon his ideas, with the unspoken threat of being killed if he did not recant (the Roman Church had killed earlier would-be reformers, notaby Czech reformer Jan Huss, who was burned at the stake). Luther and a group of his supporters publicly burned the document in December of 1520.

Angered, Charles V wanted to outlaw Luther and his followers, but he was warned by advisors that doing so outright would cause a revolt, since Luther had become so popular. So instead, Luther was to be summoned to appear before the Diet of Worms, where he was to recant his ideas publicly. Luther went to Worms (pronounced Vorms), but when called upon by Roman Catholic officials to recant, Luther made a historic stand, saying the following: "I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils, because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture ... I cannot and will not retract ... Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God, Amen!" --Martin Luther, April 16, 1521

Luther escaped from Worms in the dark of night (with the help of his supporters), before he could be seized and executed. Luther remained in hiding for some time, all the while continuing to write and develop his ideas. Shortly after Luther escaped, Charles V issued the Edict of Worms, which outlawed Luther and his followers, declared Luther and his followers heretics, and banned Luther's writings.

Other Protestant reformers

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 Leucorea University in Wittenberg), Huldreich Zwingli, and John Calvin (the founder of the Calvinist movement).

Religious war

What had started as a stricly theological and academic debate had now turned into something of a social and political conflict as well, pitting the Luther and his German supporters against the Spaniard Charles V (who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire -- of which Germany was then a part), and the Italian Pope, as well as the supporters of the latter two. The conflict would erupt even further into a religious war, fueled by the political climate of the Holy Roman Empire and strong personalities on both sides.

Lutheranism would become known as a separate movement after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg, which was convened by Charles V to try to stop the growing Protestant movement. 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 Schmalkaldic 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 Roman Catholic religious doctrine on the territories that he had defeated. However, the Lutheran movement was far from 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.

Results of the Lutheran Reformation

Luther and his followers began a large exodus from the Roman Catholic Church known as the Protestant Reformation. In the years and decades following Luther's posting of the 95 theses on the door of the Wittenburg church, large numbers of Europeans left the Roman Church, including the vast majority of Germanic people (the only Germanics who remained in the Catholic church were those under the domain and/or influence of Roman Catholic Austria). Because Luther sparked this mass movement, he is known as the father of the Protestant Reformation, and the father of Protestantism in general.

Today, 1 out every 4 Christians in the world is a Protestant, and 1 out of every 5 Protestants in the world is a Lutheran. Approximately 6 out of every 100 Christians in the world is a Lutheran.

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" (see also five solas):

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 be saved by good works, since they are bound to their sinful and evil nature. Lutherans believe that only through grace, and faith in Christ as their one true savior can one be 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

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 may 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 Financial for Lutherans (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 ELCA has "Full Communion" agreements with The Episcopal Church (named Called to Common Mission), the Moravian Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Reformed Churches in the United States. The ELCA permits the ordination of women to the pastoral office, and 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.

The LCMS and WELS each constitute a single synod for the entire denomination. The LCMS and WELS permit only qualified men to serve as pastors, and have affirmed marriage as being between one man and one woman. Neither the LCMS or the WELS permit active homosexuals to serve in the ministry.

U.S. denominations differ on doctrine and practice. Doctrinally the denominations differ primarily based on the degree of authority they place on the written text of Scripture. The ELCA subscribes to the "historical-critical" method of Scripture interpretation, which attempts to interpret the text discounted for the historical, cultural, or scientific limitations or biases imposed by the original writers. Many members of the ELCA believe that higher criticism represents the best efforts of modern scholarship.

The LCMS and WELS follow the traditional "historical-grammatical" method of interpreting the Scripture text, which seeks to understand the text as it is written within the context of history, culture, and language.

Lutheran publishers

English-language publishers of books on Luther and Lutheran theology

Concordia Publishing House (LCMS)
Augsburg Fortress and Fortress Press (ELCA)
Northwestern Publishing House (WELS)
Openbook Publishers (Lutheran Church of Australia)
Ambassador Publications (AFLC)

Modern Lutheranism in Europe

Lutheranism is the state religion of several Scandinavian countries in Northern Europe, including Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. In these countries, the churches are supported directly by taxes. With the extension of the European Union, the status of state churches is largely revised; they remain a State Church but win greater autonomy. In Sweden, Lutheranism was the state religion up until the year 2000. The church is no longer supported by taxes, but the fees are collected similarly to taxes. Lutheranism is also prominent in Estonia, and Latvia.

Notably, the European churches have very low attending memberships at the offices; due to the history of those European churches, most parts of them knew persecution during the 17th and 18th centuries. The church attendance on Sunday is not decisive and houses offices are still perennial, particularly in southern Europe. Most people feel it is more important to attend to the lot of conference and training and Biblical studies. So, in northern Europe many attend religious services only for baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and funerals. Confirmation is treated seriously and is usually delayed until the end of the high school courses. The Lutheran confirmation training usually constitutes the largest exposure of Northern Europeans to Christian doctrines.

Except in Northern Europe (see above), very few seminaries are state-supported. Due to large agreements like the Concorde de Leuenberg (1962), involving many churches raising from the Reformation the training for students in theology embraces a wide range of theologies including modern and contemporary movements in biblical criticism and theology.

Many major seaports contain an outpost of the Norwegian Lutheran church to provide aid, social opportunities and pastoral care for visiting Norwegian seamen. Few Norwegian Lutheran pastors achieve their pastoral care in foreign countries such as France.

Number of Lutherans worldwide

Europe – 76 million

Germany - 50 million ¹
Sweden - 7.8 million ²
Denmark - 5.1 million ²
Finland - 4.7 million ²
Norway - 4 million ²
Latvia - 1.3 million ³
Estonia - 1.1 million ³
Hungary - 500,000 ³
Iceland - 250,000 ²
Others - 1 million

North America – 18 million

USA – 17.7 million ⁴
Canada - 800,000

Africa – 11 million

Ethiopia - 3.3 million ⁵
Tanzania - 2.5 million ⁵
Madagascar - 1.5 million ⁵
Namibia - 900,000 ⁵
South Africa - 850,000 ⁵
Nigeria - 650,000 ⁵
Others - 1.3 million

Asia – 7 million

Indonesia - 2.5 million ⁵
India - 1.5 million ⁵
Papua New Guinea - 900,000 ⁵
Australia - 250,000 ⁵
Others – 800,000

Latin America & Brazil – 3 million

All Spanish speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere - 1.2 million
Brazil - 1.8 million ⁶

Total – 115 million

note: This list includes all people who are at least nominally Lutheran, not just those who are members of a Lutheran Church.

Sources

Pre-war German censuses determined that about two-thirds of Germans were self-identified Lutherans. There are 75 million ethnic Germans in Germany today. 75 million x 0.66 = 49.5 million, ~50 million
Data on Scandinavian countries is from the CIA Factbook: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.
Data on other European countries from Adherents.com
The US government does not collect data on religious identification (it is against US law for the government to ask people about religion), but based on several independent surveys conducted between 1990 and 2000, 6% of Americans are self-identified Lutherans. There are 295 million Americans today. 295 million x 0.06 = 17.7 million
Numbers for Asia and Africa are from the LWF and from Adherents.com
The estimates for the number of Lutherans in Brazil vary, some put the number as high as 4 million, some put it as low as 1 million, the most reliable figure seems to be slightly less than 2 million.

Famous Lutherans

See the complete List of famous Lutherans

Some of the most famous Lutherans today are:

actors David Hasselhoff, William H. Macy, and Bruce Willis;
cartoonist Gary Larson;
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court William Rehnquist;
comedian Dana Carvey;
co-founder of Apple Computers Steve Jobs;
entertainment jorunalists Mary Hart and Pat O'Brien;
filmmaker John Woo;
militaryman Norman Schwarzkopf;
musicians Kris Kristofferson and John Mellencamp;
several current and former US governors, as well as several dozen US congressman and senators;
sports figures Troy Aikman, Dale Earnhardt, Lou Gehrig, and Tom Landry;
writers Dr. Seuss and John Updike
writer and radio host Garrison Keillor

External links