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Confessional Lutheran

Confessional Lutheran is a name used by certain Lutheran Christians to designate themselves as those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 (the Lutheran "confessional" documents) in their entirety, because they believe them to be completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible. While most Lutheran denominations find the basis of their faith in the Book of Concord, "Confessional Lutherans" maintain that faithfulness to it requires attention to how that faith is actually being preached, taught, and put into practice. Confessional Lutherans believe that this is a vital part of their identity as Lutherans.

While the term "Confessional Lutheran" is sometimes used to refer exclusively to the more conservative churches found in groupings such as the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, most churches of the mainline Lutheran World Federation subscribe to the the Book of Concord as a subordinate standard of faith.

History

The modern confessional movement called Neo-Lutheranism arose in Germany in the 1830s as a reaction to Pietism on the one side and Rationalism on the other, both of which had arisen in the previous century. German clergymen like Martin Stephan, C.F.W. Walther, F.C.D. Wyneken and Wilhelm Loehe became a part of the movement as they studied the works of Martin Luther and the Book of Concord. This movement spread to the United States with Wilhelm Loehe's sending of missionaries to newly arrived German immigrants in the midwest and the immigration of groups like the Saxons, who settled in Missouri under Martin Stephan and C.F.W. Walther, and the Prussians under J.A.A. Grabau in Western New York and southeastern Wisconsin (the Buffalo Synod).

Church bodies believed to be "confessional"

Contemporary Lutheran church bodies that identify themselves as confessional tend to be either members of the International Lutheran Council, Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference or the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (UAC), as well as some independent Lutheran bodies. Among the members of the ILC are the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, the Lutheran Church - Canada and the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Germany. Among the CELC are the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Other confessional Lutherans include the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC), the American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC), the Concordia Lutheran Conference, the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA), member congregations of the Protes'tant Conference, member congregations of the Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference of Independent Congregations (OLCC) , member congregations of the United Lutheran Mission Association (ULMA) and Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America (ELCM) (all of North America).

Other, mainline Lutheran denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, also subscribe to the Book of Concord as a true witness to the Gospel.

In the Nordic countries, there are a few small churches that identify themselves as confessional Lutheran. These includes the Concordia Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden.

"Quia" versus "Quatenus" subscription

Lutheran church bodies and Lutheran individuals that identify themselves as confessional hold to a "quia" (Latin for "because") rather than a "quatenus" (Latin for "insofar as") subscription to the Book of Concord. Quia subscription (the Book of Concord is adhered to because it is faithful to the Scriptures) implies that the subscriber believes that there is no contradiction between the Book of Concord and the Scriptures. Quatenus subscription (the Book of Concord is adhered to insofar as it is faithful to the Scriptures) implies that the subscriber leaves room for the possibility that there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the Book of Concord in which case the subscriber would hold to the Scriptures against the Book of Concord.

Some Confessional Lutherans maintain that this distinguishes them from other ("mainline") Lutheran bodies and Lutherans, who, they believe, hold to a quatenus subscription. They may label these church bodies and Lutherans as "non-confessional" or "non-Lutheran." These other "mainline" Lutheran church bodies make up approximately 66.2 million of world Lutherans and are constituted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the major Lutheran churches of Europe (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Germany), and most members of the Lutheran World Federation. Confessional Lutherans are believed to represent about 20% of the 70 million Lutherans worldwide although they would claim to be those most faithful to the Book of Concord of the 16th century and Luther's own teaching.

Spectrum: conservative or liberal

As a practical matter, Lutheran organizations that identify themselves as confessional are generally more conservative in their views of the Scriptures and doctrine than groups that do not. Many self-identified Confessional Lutherans are adherents of the High Church Lutheran movement.