About Lutherans

The Early Church

Scripture urges "that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). Following the example of Stephen, many Christians died for their faith in persecutions under the rule of the Roman Empire. But persecution could not stamp out the Christian Church. Rather, just as in the days of the Apostles, "they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4). Christianity spread over the Roman world and by about three centuries after Christ's death became the official religion of the empire.

The Church had to contend not only with persecution but also against error. In the centuries immediately after the time of the Apostles, Arius and other teachers contended that Jesus was not true God with the Father, but rather the first creature of God and like the Father. Christian bishops and their congregations rejected this false teaching and summed up the true faith in Scripture-based confessions. The Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, which we still confess today, come to us from this period of church history.

But gradually a number of false beliefs took root among Christians. A life without marriage or property, away from the world, came to be considered holier than a Christian life in the world. The bishop of Rome claimed to be "pope" (father), Christ's representative, the visible head of the church on earth. The Lord's Supper was changed into the mass, a daily unbloody repetition of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, celebrated by the priest for the benefit of the living and the dead. Christians were kept in uncertainty concerning their salvation and were directed not only to the merits of Christ but to their own works as a means to gain God's favor. The Savior was pictured as a stern Judge, who could best be approached through Mary and the other saints. Church teaching imposed punishments (penance) for sin; if the sinner did not bear his punishment during his lifetime, he was to suffer in purgatory after death. Indulgences were sold for the remission or reduction of such punishments. Baptism was still administered, the Lord's Supper was still celebrated (though only the bread was distributed to the people), and the Scriptures were still preserved and recopied; but the teachings of the Gospel were sadly obscured by false doctrines.

The Lutheran Reformation

Martin Luther, born in 1483, learned the doctrines of the Roman Church from childhood. He was deeply troubled by the question: How can I, a sinner, escape God's anger and be assured of His forgiveness? Hoping to find the answer, he became a monk. His superiors recognized his ability and directed him to study and to teach. Thus Luther became acquainted with the Bible, which he later translated from Hebrew and Greek into the language of his German people. In the Bible he found the answer to his question: Christ's righteousness, not our own, earns God's favor; we are justified through faith in Christ, not by any works of ours. These became the guiding principles of the Lutheran Reformation: Scripture alone, not tradition or the authority of any church, determines doctrine; we are saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, not by any works which we do for God.

Luther hoped that the pope would hear the message of Scripture, so that the Church might be reformed. In Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, he posted 95 Theses or sentences concerning indulgences. The Theses, together with Luther's other writings, were condemned by the Roman Church. Martin Luther himself was excommunicated for heresy, but continued to preach the Gospel in sermons, books, liturgies, and hymns. Contending for the truths of Scripture, the Reformer and his followers summed up their doctrine in Confession, which stated Biblical truths and rejected the contrary errors.

Besides the three ancient confessions of the Church, Lutherans adopted the Augsburg Confession, the Apology (Defense), the Smalcald Articles, the Large Catechism, the Small Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, all included in the Book of Concord of 1580. These Confessions distinguished the Lutherans not only from the Roman Catholic Church but also from the Reformed churches. The Reformed bodies broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, but rejected some Bible truths (for example, the real presence of Christ's body and blood in Holy Communion). Many of today's Protestant churches trace their history back to the Reformed churches of the Reformation and post-Reformation period.

The Growth of the Lutheran Church

From Germany the teachings of Luther's Reformation spread into other countries of Europe, especially northward into Scandinavia. Lutherans from Northern Europe became some of the earliest immigrants to America. Soon they were doing mission work among the Indians--Luther's Small Catechism became the first book translated into an American Indian language (1646). The Lutheran immigrants who came to the United States founded congregations, and the congregations united in synods.

Some of the Lutheran synods in the United States today are: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS); the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS): the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS); and the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC).

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