Lutheranism

Lutheranism, branch of Protestantism that arose as a result of the Reformation, whose religious faith is based on the principles of Martin Luther, although he opposed such a designation. When Luther realized that the reforms he desired could not be carried out within the Roman Catholic Church, he devoted himself to questions of faith rather than form in the new Evangelical churches that developed. His was the conservative attitude, as distinguished from the views of the Reformed (Calvinistic) communions.

Doctrine

Luther's major departures from Roman Catholic doctrine rest on these beliefs: the Scriptures contain the one necessary guide to truth, and it is the right of the individual to reach God through them with responsibility to God alone; salvation comes through faith alone, available to humanity through the redeeming work of Christ; and the sacraments are valid only as aids to faith. The principal statements of faith are found in Luther's two catechisms, the unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Schmalkald Articles, and the Formula of Concord. These are all included in the Book of Concord (1580). Baptism was necessary for spiritual regeneration, but no form was specified. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was retained, but the doctrine of transubstantiation was rejected.

As to the manner of worship, Luther chose to retain altars and vestments; he prepared an order of liturgical service, but with the understanding that no church was bound to follow any set order. There is today no uniform liturgy belonging to all branches of the Lutheran body; characteristically, however, an important place is given to preaching and congregational singing.

Because of Luther's conservatism and the political conditions of 16th-century Germany, the Lutheran churches originated as territorial churches, subject to the local princes. The local organization still has the most important place in church polity, but there is a growing tendency toward a more organized church.

Lutheranism has traditionally stressed education, and there are many Lutheran schools, colleges, and seminaries throughout the world. Since the mid-18th cent., Lutherans have had a program of Christian service for women called the Deaconess movement. The world membership of Lutherans is about 61 million.

History

In Europe

The history of Lutheranism in Europe is generally divided into several distinct periods. The first period, from 1520 to 1580, was one of doctrinal consolidation. Doctrinal disputes, especially that concerning antinomianism, began during Luther's lifetime, but became more heated after his death, when the controversy raised by Andreas Osiander over the meaning of Christ's death on the cross shook the whole German Evangelical Church. The opposing factions were the strict Lutherans, who refused any compromise with Rome or Calvinism, and the moderate wing, headed by Philip Melanchthon, who strove for reconciliation.

The period from 1580 to 1700 was called "the age of orthodoxy." Almost exclusive emphasis was put on right doctrine, and faith was understood as intellectual assent. During the early years of the 17th cent., Germany was racked by the Thirty Years War, and Lutheranism lost much of its territory. Religious boundaries were stabilized by the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which maintained that with slight exceptions the religion of the prince was to be the religion of his subjects. The latter part of the century saw a reaction against the prevailing orthodoxy in the form of Pietism.

In 1817, Frederick William III of Prussia sought to merge forcibly the Lutheran and Reformed churches of Prussia into a single organization called the Prussian Union. Some conservative Lutherans opposed this move and withdrew from the union to found the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Prussia as a free church. After World War I, the churches were no longer governed by state laws but still received state support.

In the unification of German culture under the Nazi regime, the church did not escape. In 1933 a national organization, the German Evangelical Church, was formed. Under the direction of the Nazi party it tried to develop a national racial church, with pure Aryan blood as a prerequisite for membership. A revolt against this movement, led by Martin Niemoeller, resulted in the founding of the Confessing Church and the formation of the Confessional Synod, which issued (1934) its declaration rejecting the Reich's interference with the church.

The end of the war saw the formation of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKID), which is made up of members of both Lutheran and Reformed churches, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), which functions as an expressly Lutheran constituency within the EKID. German churches have also cooperated wholeheartedly in the formation of the Lutheran World Federation (1947) and the World Council of Churches. The Lutheran Church is the established state church of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Finland; Sweden disestablished its Lutheran state church in 2000.

In North America

In North America, Lutherans from the Netherlands were among the settlers on Manhattan island in 1625. A congregation was formed there in 1648, but it was antedated by one established (1638) by Swedish settlers at Fort Christina (Wilmington) on the Delaware River. On nearby Tinicum Island the first Lutheran church building in the country was dedicated in 1646. Early in the 18th cent. exiles from the Palatinate established German Lutheran churches in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The Salzburger migration to Georgia (1734) introduced Lutheranism in the South.

In the 18th cent., organization of the churches was begun by Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, who brought about the formation (1748) in Pennsylvania of the first synod in the country. The Synod of New York and adjoining states followed (1786); that of North Carolina was created in 1803. With the settlement of the Midwest, the West, and the Northwest, many small synods were formed by Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and other national groups.

Once there were about 150 distinct Lutheran bodies, but in 1918 many of the autonomous Lutheran bodies merged into the United Lutheran Church of America. The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, formed in 1872, broke up in 1960, when the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (with 411,000 members, now the third largest Lutheran group in the United States) withdrew. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, with 2.6 million members, was also formerly part of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America. It is now the second largest group of Lutherans. The American Lutheran Church, formed in 1961, and the Lutheran Church in America, formed in 1962, united to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988, now the largest Lutheran group, with 5.2 million members. These groups comprise about 95% of North American Lutherans. In an ecumenical spirit, the Evangelical Lutheran's Churchwide Assembly agreed (1997) on a full communion with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America, and it reached a similar agreement with the Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church in 1999.

Protestant movement founded on the principles of Martin Luther. Lutheranism arose at the start of the Reformation, after Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses in Wittenberg. It spread through much of Germany and into Scandinavia, where it was established by law. It was brought to the New World by the colonists of New Netherland and New Sweden and spread through the U.S. Middle Atlantic states in the 18th century and the Midwest in the 19th century. Its doctrines are contained in the catechisms of Luther and in the Augsburg Confession. Lutheran doctrine emphasizes salvation by faith alone and the primacy of the Bible as the church's authority. The Lutheran ministry is one of service—not special status—and is described as the priesthood of all believers. Lutherans accept two sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist) and believe in predestination to salvation. The Lutheran World Federation is based in Geneva. Seealso Pietism.

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Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Roman Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation and, though it was not his original intention, left Western Christianity divided.

The split between Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church arose mainly over the doctrine of justification before God. Specifically, Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification "by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone," distinct from the Roman Catholic view of works in addition to faith. Lutheranism is also distinct from the Reformed Churches, another major church which arose during the Reformation. Unlike the Reformed Churches, Lutherans have retained many of the sacramental understandings and liturgical practices of the pre-Reformation Church. Lutheran theology differs considerably from Reformed theology in its understanding of divine grace and predestination to eternity after death.

Today, millions belong to Lutheran churches worldwide; furthermore, the world's 400 million Protestant Christians can trace their tradition, at least in part, back to Luther's reforming work.

Doctrine

The Bible and the Lutheran Confessions

Lutherans believe that the Bible, as a divinely inspired book, is the source of all revealed divine knowledge. Scripture alone (Sola scriptura) is the formal principle of the faith, the final authority for all matters of faith and doctrine.

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, and the Book of Concord does not hold the the same position in all Lutheran churches. Church of Denmark and Church of Norway have only adopted the three ancient Creeds, the Confession of Augsburg and the Small Catechism of Martin Luther.

Lutheran pastors, congregations, and church bodies in Germany and the U.S. traditionally agree to teach in harmony with the entire Lutheran Confessions. Some Lutheran church bodies require this pledge to be unconditional, while others allow their congregations to do so "insofar as" the Confessions are in agreement with the Bible.

Church of Sweden regard the ancient Creeds and the Confession of Augsburg as "summaries of the faith", while the other parts of Book of Concord are regarded as "commentaries" in the same way as modern documents are "commentaries" to the faith. Among these younger commentaries one will find the first paragraph of the Constitution of the World Council of Churches, the Agreement between Church of Sweden and the Philippine Independent Church, and the Common Statement of the Porvoo Communion.

Lutherans have understood the Bible as containing two distinct types of content, termed Law and Gospel (or Law and Promises). In the Lutheran view, properly distinguishing the Law from the Gospels allows a Christian to clearly understand the Gospels' message of justification by grace through faith alone.

Over the history of the Lutheran tradition, views on the nature of biblical authority have varied. Martin Luther and the Book of Concord taught that the Scriptures were the Word of God, and that it is the only reliable guide for faith and practice. The 17th century is termed the Orthodox period of Lutheran scholasticism, in which theologians emphasized biblical inerrancy. During the eighteenth century, Rationalism, which advocated reason rather than authority as the final source of knowledge, began to influence Lutheranism. Rationalism brought the authority of the Bible into question. Lutherans such as Gottfried Leibnitz sought to reconcile Christianity with the new philosophy, but in general, most of the Lutheran Laity continued to hold Supernaturalist beliefs. Beginning in the nineteenth century, Lutheran confessionalism emphasized a stricter adherence to the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions as expressed in the Book of Concord. Today, Lutheran groups vary on the nature and limits of biblical inerrancy, with each group claiming to represent the true Reformation position. Conservative groups tend to stress biblical inerrancy, confessionalism, and the orthodoxy of 17th century Lutheranism, while liberal groups seek to make use of the higher criticism method of biblical interpretation.

Central doctrines

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). Lutherans believe that this grace is granted for the sake of Christ's merit alone (Solus Christus). Traditional 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 are not capable of doing any good works that can satisfy God's justice. Every human thought and deed is colored by sin and sinful motives. Because of this, all humanity deserves eternal damnation in hell. God has intervened in this world because he loves all people and does not want anyone to be eternally damned. 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. For this reason, 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 .

Lutherans believe Jesus Christ 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".

Lutherans are Trinitarian because they confess in 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". Lutherans reject as error the idea that the Father and the Son are merely faces of the same person, because, they believe, 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.

Lutherans believe that individuals receive this gift of salvation through faith alone. — a full and complete trust in God's promises to forgive and to save Even faith itself is seen as a gift of God, created in the hearts of Christians by the work of the Holy Spirit through his means of grace, which are the Word and the Sacraments . It is important to note the words — through faith, not by faith. Faith is seen as an instrument that receives the gift of salvation, not something that causes salvation. Thus, Lutherans reject the so-called "decision theology" which is common among modern evangelicals.

Traditionally, Lutherans have accepted monergism, which states that salvation is by God's act alone, and reject the doctrine 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 without the Holy Spirit, since righteousness in the heart cannot be wrought in the absence of the Holy Spirit. Lutherans believe that the elect are predestined to salvation. Lutherans believe Christians should be assured that they are among the predestined. However, they disagree with those that make predestination the source of salvation rather than Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. Unlike Traditional Calvinism, Lutherans do not believe in a predestination to damnation. Instead, Lutherans teach eternal damnation is a result of the unbeliever's sins, rejection of the forgiveness of sins, and unbelief.

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 or "Repentance" "the third sacrament. When it defines "sacrament" the Apology of the Augsburg Confession lists Absolution as one of them.

They teach that Baptism is a saving work of God, mandated and instituted by Christ. Thus it is administered to both infants and adults. Children born to practicing Lutheran families are baptized shortly after birth.

Lutherans hold that within Holy Communion, also referred to as the Sacrament of the Altar or the Lord's Supper, the consecrated elements of bread and wine are the true body and blood of Christ "in, with, and under the form" of bread and wine for all those who eat and drink it, a doctrine that the Formula of Concord calls the Sacramental union. Some Lutherans use the term Eucharist to refer to Communion, noting its use in the Book of Concord; however, others reject the term on the basis that the word Eucharist ("thankgiving") puts the emphasis on the human response to the sacrament, which is contrary to the Lutheran emphasis on God's omnipotence and human powerlessness. They note that in almost every case, the use of the term in the Book of Concord refers to doctrinal statements that are part of the Roman Catholic tradition.

Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be certain of their salvation, for it is in Christ's work and his promises in which their certainty lies. The central final hope of the Christian is "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" as confessed in the Apostles' Creed, but Lutherans also teach that, at death, Christians are immediately taken into the presence of Jesus, where they await this resurrection and the second coming of Jesus on the Last Day. Lutherans do not believe in any sort of earthly millennial kingdom of Christ either before or after his second coming on the last day.

Although Lutherans believe that good works do not satisfy God's wrath, this is not to say that they hold good works to play no role in the Christian life. Good works are the fruit of saving faith, and always and in every instance spring spontaneously from true faith. Any true good works have their true origin in God, not in the fallen human heart or in human striving; their absence would demonstrate that faith, too, is absent.

Grace vs. justification

A discussion of Lutheranism#Grace_vs._justification is available on the talk page.

Ecumenism with other Christians

Although they decried the division of the Church, early Lutherans tended to avoid ecumenical fellowship with other Churches, believing that churches should not share Communion and exchange pastors if they do not agree upon doctrine.

In the 18th century, there was some ecumenical interest between the Church of Sweden and the Church of England. John Robinson, Bishop of London, even fostered a plan for the union of the English and Swedish churches in 1718, supported by Count Gyllenberg, Swedish Ambassador to London. The plan fell through because of the opposition of most Swedish bishops, although Svedberg of Skara and Gezelius, Bishop of Turku (Finland) were in favour. The reason for the opposition was that the Church of England was too Calvinist for them

In 1817, King Frederick William III of Prussia ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches in his territory to unite, forming the Evangelical Church of the Prussian Union. The unification of the two branches of German Protestantism sparked a great deal of controversy. Many Lutherans, termed Old Lutherans, chose to leave the established churches and form independent church bodies. Many left for America and Australia. The dispute over ecumenism overshadowed other controversies within German Lutheranism.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, German Lutherans cooperated with German Reformed churches on the frontiers of the newly formed United States. Other American Lutherans, from the Old Lutheran dissenters, formed churches with stricter attitudes toward ecumenism. In the twentieth century, many of those stricter churches have combined into denominations, the major being the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC).

Presently, Lutherans are divided over how to interact with other Christian denominations. Typically, more conservative 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 pulpits or communicants commune at each other's altars. On the other hand, more liberal Lutherans are willing to share communion and to allow preachers from other Christian traditions in their pulpits.

Although the Lutheran World Federation has been in ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church since shortly after the Second Vatican Council, it was not until 1999 that far-reaching ecumenical relations were established between the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church when they jointly issued a statement, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, that declared commonality of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran doctrines on Justification. While a number of Lutheran theologians saw this as a sign that the Roman Catholic Church was essentially adopting the Lutheran position, most Lutheran theologians disagreed, claiming that, considering the public documentation of the Catholic Church's position, this assertion does not hold up.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been actively involved in ecumenical dialogues with several denominations (the ELCA is one of the members of the LWF that signed the JDDJ). Recently, the ELCA has established "full communion" with several American Churches: the Moravian Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ.

Although not an "ecumenical" movement in the formal sense, in the 1990s influences from the megachurches of American evangelicalism (eg Hybels' "Becoming a Contagious Christian" from Willow Creek and Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" from Saddleback Church) have become common, particularly among more socially, politically, and theologically conservative Lutherans. Many of the largest Lutheran congregations in the United States have been heavily influenced by these "progressive Evangelicals." These influences are sharply criticised by confessional Lutherans as being foreign to the Lutheran tradition.

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 stand in full communion with the Philippine Independent Church and the United Methodist Church.

Ecumenism among Lutherans

The largest organizations of Lutheran churches around the world are the Lutheran World Federation, the International Lutheran Council, and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference. These organizations together include the great majority of Lutheran denominations around the globe.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF)-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. For that reason, a number of doctrinally diverse LWF denominations, now largely separated from state control, are declaring fellowship and joint statements of agreement with other Lutheran and non-Lutheran Christian denominations.

By contrast, the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference and International Lutheran Council as well as many unaffiliated denominations such as the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC) 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 state that LWF Lutherans are practicing fake ecumenism by desiring church fellowship outside of actual unity of teaching.

Practices

Many Lutherans place great emphasis on a liturgical approach to worship services; although there have always been substantial non-liturgical minorities (Hauge Lutherans from Norway, contemporary-worship oriented Lutherans today—see paragraph below). Music forms a large part of a traditional Lutheran service. Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales, and Luther himself composed hymns and hymn tunes, perhaps the most famous of which is "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" ("Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"). Lutheran hymnody is reputed for its doctrinal, didactic, and musical riches. Many Lutheran churches are active musically with choirs, handbell 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.

Many Lutherans also preserve a liturgical approach to the celebration of Communion (or the Lord's Supper), emphasizing the sacrament as the central act of Christian worship. Lutherans believe that Jesus' actual body and blood 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:

"...we 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." (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV.1)

In the 1970s, many Lutheran churches began holding "contemporary" worship services for the purpose of evangelical outreach. These services were in a variety of styles, depending on the preferences of the congregation. Often they were held alongside a traditional service, to cater to those who were not comfortable with the more liturgical forms. As the Lutheran church enters the 21st century, some Lutheran congregations are holding "Contemporary Worship" services 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. Because Luther contemporized the worship service for his community, these congregations see their position as in keeping with "Confessional Lutheranism" (see Augsburg Confession article VII). Principle examples of this in the ELCA include Family of God, Cape Coral FL., The Well, Charlotte NC, Hosanna! of Lakeville, Minnesota, and Church of the Apostles, Seattle WA. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest federation of international Lutheran Churches has in fact strongly recommended in the Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture that Lutherans of the world make every effort to bring their services into a more contextually sensitive position.

"A given culture's values and patterns, insofar as they are consonant with the values of the Gospel, can be used to express the meaning and purpose of Christian worship. Contextualization is a necessary task for the Church's mission in the world, so that the Gospel can be ever more deeply rooted in diverse local cultures." The Nairobe Statement

Catechism, especially children's, is considered fundamental in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain Sunday Schools, and some host or maintain private nursery schools, primary schools, regional high schools and universities.

Life-long catechesis, since Martin Luther's day, was intended for all ages so that the abuses of the Church of that day would not recur. With the emphasis on proper life-long catechesis, the Lutheran Church has a heritage rich in theology and doctrine.

Pastors usually teach in the common language of the parish. In the U.S., some congregations and synods traditionally taught in German, Finnish, or Norwegian, but this custom, which attracted unfavorable attention during World War I, has been in significant decline since the early/middle 20th century.

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. All Lutheran pastors may marry and have families. Most Lutheran denominations, with the exception of the confessional-conservative synods, encourage female pastors.

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 Missouri Synod 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.

Lutheran Churches in the United States use a number of hymnals as well as electronic projection media. The most widely used are: The Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and The Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006, ELCA and ELCIC), Lutheran Worship (1982, LCMS), Christian Worship (WELS), and The Lutheran Hymnal (1941, LCMS, WELS & CLC). In 2006, both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the LCMS, the two largest Lutheran denominations, released new hymnals: Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELCA) and Lutheran Service Book (LCMS).

In 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 Churches in Australia (which amalgamated in 1966) used a bewildering variety of hymnals, usually in the German language.

International bodies

The three largest international Lutheran bodies are the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which contains 140 member church bodies in 78 countries representing 66.2 million of the world's 69.7 million Lutherans. These numbers are disputed however, because they include millions of non-Lutherans that belong to merged Protestant church bodies containing Lutheran components. The Lutheran World Federation supports the activities of Lutheran World Relief, a relief and development agency active in more than 50 countries. The other international bodies are the International Lutheran Council (ILC), of which the LCMS and the LCC are members and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC), of which the WELS and ELS are members.

Many Lutheran churches exist throughout the world which are not affiliated with the LWF, the ILC or the CELC, such as those affiliated with Augsburg Lutheran Churches or Church of the Lutheran Confession which are especially active in Africa and India; and those affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (UAC)or Church of the Lutheran Brethren, which are especially active elsewhere in Asia.

Throughout the world

Lutheranism is present on all populated continents. Countries in which Lutheranism is the largest religious group are Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Namibia and Sweden.

While Namibia is the only country outside Europe to have a Lutheran majority, there are sizeable Lutheran communities in many other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Indonesia (notably among the Orang Batak), Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and the United States. Lutheran missions have also been established in many African countries like Sierra Leone.

Martin Luther is also credited with creating the very first Christmas Tree; he was said to have decorated a small tree in his house to symbolize the way the stars shone at night. Many Lutheran churches continue this tradition of an "Advent Tree" by decorating a tree in the sanctuary, narthex or gathering area in a similar fashion to the mainstream tradition, but only with white and gold colors, and only religious symbols (such as the cross, the orb, the Lamb, and the Shepherd's staff) instead of other more secular Christmas symbols as might be seen in American homes.

See also

• Confessional Lutheran
• High Church Lutheranism
• International Lutheran Council
• List of Lutheran denominations
• Lutheran Catholic Evangelical
• Lutheran Orthodoxy
• Lutheran World Federation
• Lutheran views of homosexuality
• Neo-Lutheranism
• Old Lutherans
• Pietism
• Porvoo Communion

Print sources

• ELCA Perspective:Braaten, Carl E. (1983). Principles of Lutheran Theology. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
• General Council Historical Perspective:Krauth, Charles Porterfield (1875). The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology: As Represented in the Augsburg Confession, and in the History and Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott.
• LCMS Historical Perspective:Pieper, Franz (1950–1957). Christian Dogmatics. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
• LCMS Historical Perspective:Engelder, Theodore E.W. (1934). Popular Symbolics: The Doctrines of the Churches of Christendom and Of Other Religious Bodies Examined in the Light of Scripture. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
• LCR Perspective:McLaughlin, Wallace H. (1963). We All Believe in One True God: A Summary of Biblical Doctrine. Midland, Michigan: Cross of Christ Press.
• Slovak Synod Historical Perspective:Richter, V. W. (1913). Why Should a Lutheran Not Join Any Sectarian Church?. Streator, Illinois: Svedok Publishing House.
• WELS Perspective:Lange, Lyle W. (2006). God So Loved the World: A Study of Christian Doctrine. Northwestern Publishing House.

Footnotes

External links

International Bodies

• Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC)
• International Lutheran Council (ILC)
• Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

Church Bodies

• Augustana Evangelical Catholic Communion (AECC)
• The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC)
• Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC)
• The Church of Sweden
• The Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC)
• Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church (LEPC, GCEPC)
• CLC Lutheran Missions in Africa and India
• Concordia Lutheran Conference
• Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran (ECCL)
• The Old Lutheran Church (OLC)
• Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil (IECLB)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
• Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS)
• Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA)
• Lutheran Church - Canada (LCC)
• Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC)
• Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod (LC-MS)
• Lutheran Churches of the Reformation (LCR)
• Lutheran Church in Singapore
• Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (Germany)
• The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)

Other Links

• Lutheran Resources
• The Lutheran Blog Directory
• Famous Living Lutherans
• Famous Lutherans at Famous Why
• Famous Lutherans at NNDB
• History of Lutherans in Canada
• Asia Lutheran News (ALN) and Lutheran Community in Asia
• Scholarly articles on the Lutheran Church from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library
• Historic Worship of the Lutheran Church
• The Book of Concord Online
• History of the breakup of the Synodical Conference