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The Lutheran Church is the oldest and largest Protestant church
in the world. Lutheranism had its origins in the Reformation
movement of the 1500's - a movement led by
Martin Luther, and is an authentic expression of the one, holy,
Christian and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ and the
Apostles.
Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483, the son of a miner. His
parents gave him a strict religious upbringing. A brilliant student
of theology and scripture, Luther became a monk and an ordained
priest in 1507. He soon earned his Doctorate of Theology and was
appointed a Professor at the University of Wittenberg.
After years of intensive Biblical study, Luther became torn between
devotion to the church and criticism of some of its teachings. He
came to believe that salvation was a direct gift from God to those
who had faith in Jesus Christ - not by good works or through priests
or clerical mediators. This is the doctrine of "justification
through grace, received in faith."
Luther criticized the church practice of selling "indulgences" as a
way of "paying" for sins and lessening the time to be spent in
Purgatory. In 1517 he nailed his famous "95 Theses" to the door of
Castle Church in Wittenberg, to raise these issues for discussion.
Catholic authorities charged Luther with heresy (false teachings).
When he refused to renounce his beliefs and insisted the papacy was
of human, not divine origin, Luther was excommunicated. Later he was
forced into protective hiding.
While under the protection of Prince Frederick the Wise, Luther
pursued reforms in Christian doctrine and practice. These included
recognizing the Bible as God's Word, the true source of doctrine;
upholding Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper as the only sacraments;
producing a vernacular liturgy; and translating the Bible into
German. Luther published almost 400 works, including Biblical
commentaries, catechisms, sermons and tracts. He wrote many hymns
and continued to preach. In an attempt to reach a compromise,
Catholic and Protestant leaders met at Augsburg in 1530. Philip
Melanchthon, Luther's close friend, wrote "The Augsburg Confession"
to explain Luther's position. This document later became one of the
official doctrinal statements of the Lutheran Church.
The
Book of Concord is a collection of writings that sought to
reconcile doctrinal disputes and clarify beliefs. The book contains
" The
Augsburg Confession," "The Smalcald Articles," "The Formula of
Concord," the "Small
Catechism," the "Large
Catechism," and more. Published in 1580, the Book of Concord
helped lay the foundation for modern Lutheranism.