LUTHERANISM

LUTHERANISM in America traces its heritage to the Reformation of the sixteenth century in Germany and northern Europe, stressing justification by faith and the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. While Lutherans may have resided in the Dutch settlements of New Netherland beginning in the mid-1620s, the first Lutheran-majority community was a Swedish colony established on the Delaware in 1638 and subsequently captured by the Dutch in 1655. During the eighteenth century, however, many German Lutherans settled in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies. In 1742, Henry M. Muhlenberg was sent from Germany and helped unite most Lutheran pastors in North America into the Ministerium of North America in 1748. At the close of the American Revolution, there were 120,000 Lutherans in 300 congregations throughout the new nation.

The Rise of the General Synod

In the new Lutheran world, English-speaking synods revealed a willingness to participate in mainstream Protestant culture, showing sympathy for the temperance and antislavery movements. Many German-speakers, by contrast, preferred Lutheran exclusivity and encouraged the establishment of German newspapers and schools. The

changing character of American Lutheranism was epitomized by Samuel Schmucker, who was instrumental in the founding of Gettysburg Seminary in 1826—a bastion of American Lutheranism in the nineteenth century. In 1834, Schmucker published his Elements of Popular Theology, which defended unity with all orthodox Christian bodies who held a common faith based on the "fundamental doctrines of Scripture," and extolled the Augsburg Confession as a model because it left certain theological questions open. After 1820, most Lutheran synods coalesced into the new General Synod, which was given authority to devise plans for seminaries, give missionary instruction, and provide aid to poor ministers and families. A network of orphanages, homes for the aged, and hospitals also began to appear in the Lutheran community, and several new colleges were founded.

The Challenge of Confessionalism

During the 1830s and 1840s, many Lutherans fled from Prussia, Saxony, Norway, and Sweden for a variety of political, religious, and economic reasons. Settling in the Midwest, they brought with them a theology of confessionalism, which stressed adherence to the historic confessions of the Lutheran tradition, most notably the Book of Concord (1580). The greater numbers of European Lutherans helped to cut off Lutheranism in the United States from other Protestant denominations. Most prominent of the new German synods was the Missouri Synod, formed in 1847, which took a confessional stance and opposed Americanization. Its vision was that of super-congregationalism, in which a synod had no authority over individual congregations. Other German and Scandinavian synods took less dogmatic stands, but inclined more to the theology of Missouri than that of the General Synod.

Theological Disputes

In the 1850s, a distinct theological division emerged between advocates of confessionalism and Neo-Lutherans who held to the Augsburg Confession only insofar as it conformed ostensibly to the Bible, rejecting unbiblical teachings such as original sin, private confession, baptismal regeneration, and the "real presence." Samuel Schmucker, the acknowledged leader of the Neo-Lutherans, was a vocal evangelical regarded with scorn by opponents of American Lutheranism. When he issued his Definite Synodical Program in 1855, which sought to rework the Augsburg Confession to conform to American values, it was rejected even by several eastern synods and American Lutheranism suffered a defeat from which it never recovered during the nineteenth century. Throughout the nineteenth century, moderates continued to search for an acceptable basis on which to unite the synods in the East and the Midwest. In 1867, they formed the General Council, which adopted the Akron Rule in 1872, reserving Lutheran pulpits for Lutheran pastors and Lutheran altars for Lutheran communicants. The issues of the Civil War provoked another division: five southern synods withdrew from the General Synod to form what in 1886 would become the United Synod, South. Advocates of confessionalism in the Midwest responded to the withdrawal of the southern synods by forming the Synodical Conference in 1872 to coordinate their activities.

Lutheranism in the Late Nineteenth Century

After the Civil War, German and Scandinavian immigration continued, with the high point being reached in 1882, but the motivations for this were now more economic than religious. Church growth occurred in the East as well as the Midwest, with the General Council's membership being one-third English, one-third German, and one-third Swedish. The Missouri Synod also made gains in the East, although most of their new members were migrants to the Midwest. Twenty-eight institutions of higher education were established between 1870 and 1910. Lutheran church life was influenced by the pietistic strain in Protestant America, but was unaffected by the Social Gospel. All its energy was devoted to home missions and evangelical outreach, for the focus of Lutheran interest was on personal not social ethics.

Renewed Doctrinal Controversy

Biblical criticism had only a slight impact on nineteenth-century Lutheranism. Instead, Lutherans focused on confessionalism and predestination. Divisions arose between those who favored inclusive confederation (the General Synod), confessional subscription (the General Council and the United Synod, South), and complete unity in doctrine and practice (the Synodical Conference). The General Synod acquired a new appreciation for its Lutheran heritage in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and committed itself to the Augsburg Confession, but nevertheless continued a good relationship with evangelical denominations and enacted no bar on altar or pulpit fellowship. Despite this, closer relations did develop between the General Synod, the General Council, and the United Synod, South, at the end of the century. During the 1870s, the Synodical Conference was itself divided over predestination (or the "election of grace"). The Lutheran doctrine of election applied only to salvation, not damnation, and was never a central aspect of the faith. Nevertheless, Friedrich A. Schmitt of the Norwegian Synod accused the Missouri Synod's president, C. F. W. Walther, of Calvinistic leanings. After acrimonious debate, several synods left the Synodical Conference with a consequent decline in funding for education and missionary work.

The First Steps Toward Lutheran Unity

Efforts to celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in 1917 united Lutherans in the United States and led them to establish the Lutheran Bureau to provide ordinary Americans with information on the Lutheran heritage. The outbreak of war that year provided a further opportunity for Lutheranism to acquire national prominence. The entry of Lutherans into military service led to the creation of the National Lutheran Commission for Soldiers' and Sailors' Welfare, a trans-synodical body that established camps, recruited pastors, and raised $1.35 million. The National Lutheran Council (NLC) handled problems on the home front and aided reconstruction in Europe. Even the midwestern synods worked with the National Lutheran Council, though conflict did erupt over cooperation with other Protestant churches. The drive toward Lutheran unity was cemented by the creation of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America (NLCA) in 1917, and the formation the following year of the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA), which united most of the eastern-based synods into one body. Significantly, the ULCA was much more centralized than any of its predecessor synods, with much less congregational autonomy.

Depression and War

Lutheranism remained a conservative force in the 1920s and Lutherans remained rural-oriented, though there was a shift in mission work toward recovering unchurched Lutherans in the cities and the Northwest. After disputes within the National Lutheran Council, moderate midwestern synods formed the American Lutheran Conference, banning cooperation with other Protestants and restricting altars and pulpits, and in 1930 they merged into the American Lutheran Church. The Great Depression of 1929 dramatically reduced budgets and prompted calls for collective social responsibility. The Lutheran Home Missions Council of America was formed to transcend ethnic boundaries and allow for a degree of altar and pulpit fellowship, but most Lutheran churches in the mid– twentieth century remained committed to the confessional viewpoint. The outbreak of war in 1941 gave new life to the National Lutheran Council, which recruited chaplains, supported orphan missions, and ministered to armed forces personnel.

The Postwar World

During the 1950s, the Lutheran churches saw great growth, though Lutheran evangelism was based on a sacramental emphasis rather than revivalism, and Lutherans came closer together in ecumenical ventures. The ALC and ELC (formerly the NLCA) completed merger in 1960 to form The American Lutheran Church and the ULCA and the Augustana Synod united in 1962 to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). New types of ministry were initiated to address contemporary social problems, as theologians tried to enunciate a Lutheran doctrine that allowed for engagement in social justice without denying the action of grace in making a Christian. Throughout these mergers, however, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod stood apart, insisting that doctrinal conformity was the prerequisite for Lutheran unity.

Lutheranism Today

For Lutherans other than the Missouri Synod, merger became an end in itself and in 1987 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed from a merger of the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America. In 2000 the ELCA endorsed a concordat with the Episcopal Church, U.S.A., allowing for a high degree of altar and pulpit fellowship. In 1999, membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America stood at 5,149,668 members compared with 2,582,440 for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and 722,754 for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Some smaller groups include the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations with 32,984, the American Association of Lutheran Churches with 18,252, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod with 16,734, the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 15,012, and the Church of the Lutheran Brethren in America with 13,920.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Avery, William O. Empowered Laity: The Story of the Lutheran Laity Movement for Stewardship. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1997.

Bachmann, E. Theodore, with Mercia B. Bachmann. The United Lutheran Church in America, 1918–1962. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1997.

Nelson, E. Clifford, ed. The Lutherans in North America. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980.

Nelson, E. Clifford, and Eugene L. Fevold. The Lutheran Church Among Norwegian-Americans: A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1960.

Todd, Mary. Authority Vested: A Story of Identity and Change in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 2000.

Trexler, Edgar R. Anatomy of a Merger: People, Dynamics, and Decisions That Shaped the ELCA. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1991.

JeremyBonner

See alsoGerman Americans ; Protestantism ; Religion and Religious Affiliation ; Religious Thought and Writings ; Scandinavian Americans .

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 nearly 74 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 almost 400,000 members, now the third largest Lutheran group in the United States) withdrew. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, with some 2.5 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 nearly 4.8 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.

Bibliography

See A. R. Wentz, The Lutheran Church in American History (2d ed. rev. 1933); L. P. Qualben, The Lutheran Church in Colonial America (1940); E. Vermeil et al., The Churches in Germany (1949); J. Pelikan, From Luther to Kierkegaard (1950, repr. 1963); A. K. Swihart, Luther and the Lutheran Church (1960); J. H. Bodensieck, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (3 vol., 1965); E. C. Nelson, Lutheranism in North America (rev. ed. 1980); E. W. Gritsch, Fortress Introduction to Lutheranism (1993).

Lutheranism. A confessional movement within the W. Church tracing its origins to the theology of M. Luther and the various formulae collected in the Book of Concord (1580). These writings promote justification by faith alone as the chief tenet of Lutheranism. Lutherans modified, but generally retained, traditional liturgical forms, placing equal emphasis on preaching and liturgy.

The first systematic presentation of Lutheran theology was P. Melanchthon's Loci communes (1521). Lutheran ‘orthodoxy’, which dominated the 17th cent., was elaborated in a scholastic mould which gave it an intellectual cast. The emergence of Pietism was a reaction against this intellectualism, as well as against confessional strife and the consolidation of State Churches after the Thirty Years War. The Pietists appealed to Luther's ideas on the supremacy of Scripture and the personal nature of faith.

In the 16th cent. Lutheranism spread through much of Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and E. Europe (e.g. in Poland, Hungary, and Latvia), though in Germany and E. Europe RCism and Calvinism later reversed or modified the situation. In the 19th cent. the promotion of a union of Reformed (Calvinist) and Lutheran Churches in Prussia (1817), together with the challenge of biblical and historical criticism, stimulated a romantic rediscovery of Luther and a renewed confessionalism. Political events in the first half of the 20th cent. provoked a critique of Luther's ‘two kingdoms’ ethic, which distinguishes two ways, the spiritual and secular, in which God effects His will in the world. Thus Lutherans in Germany were accused of uncritical accommodation though many Lutherans joined the Confessing Church. After 1945 Lutheranism in Germany struggled to maintain its identity as it participated in efforts to establish a combined Protestant Church. In 1948 most of the Lutheran regional Churches formed the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany within the Evangelical Church of Germany (q.v.). In Scandinavia Lutheranism is the officially recognized religion.

Lutheranism came to North America in the 17th cent., but remained small until after 1730 when German immigration surged. In 1742 H. M. Muhlenburg was sent from Halle to Pittsburgh to organize the Lutheran Church; he established the first Lutheran synod in 1748. Successive waves of immigrants from varied backgrounds led to a proliferation of Lutheran bodies. The history of Lutheranism in North America is marked by struggles for confessional identity and increasingly for visible unity. By 1988 there were three main Lutheran bodies, all the results of amalgamation: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, formed in 1988; the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, formed in 1971; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, formed in 1986.

European missionary efforts, dating from the 18th cent., joined in the 19th cent. by Lutherans from America, established Lutheranism in India, the South Pacific and other parts of Asia, in Africa, Latin America, and Australia. The Lutheran World Convention, formed in 1923, in 1947 developed into the Lutheran World Federation. Lutherans have been involved in a number of ecumenical developments (see REUNION).

Lutheranism. Lutheranism, the oldest and largest branch of Protestant Christianity worldwide, has over eight million members in the United States, nearly all in two denominations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Lutheranism, emerging from the early sixteenth‐century reformation of Martin Luther, was formalized in the Augsburg Confession (1530) and spread to northern and central Europe. Dutch and Swedish Lutherans first came to America in the 1620s, with larger groups of German Lutherans arriving after 1680. Lutheran settlements stretched from New York to South Carolina but were heaviest in Pennsylvania, where Henry Melchior Mühlenberg organized scattered congregations into the Pennsylvania Ministerium in 1748. Other regional groupings of congregations, called synods, were organized, and in 1820 many formed a national organization, the General Synod, under the leadership of Samuel Simon Schmucker. By the early nineteenth century many colonial Lutherans had acculturated to the United States and, led by Schmucker, this “American Lutheranism” moved closer to Reformed and Evangelical Christianity.

From the 1840s until World War I, another, larger wave of Lutheran immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia organized independent denominations along linguistic and theological lines. These immigrant Lutherans settled primarily in a broad band of territory from Ohio to the Dakotas, which remains the center of Lutheran strength. These immigrants were often more conservative in doctrine and practice than the “American Lutherans.” One group of Germans formed the LCMS in 1847, under the direction of C.F.W. Walther. A similar conservative movement within the General Synod led by Charles Porterfield Krauth resulted in the formation of the General Council in 1867. The later immigrants assimilated into American society early in the twentieth century, pushed by nativist feelings during World War I. From 1917 to 1962 a wave of denominational realignments resulted in three major Lutheran denominations. After World War II, American Lutherans began to play an important leadership role in American Christianity and world Lutheranism through various ecumenical organizations. In the early 1970s, the LCMS underwent a struggle between moderates and conservatives; the moderates left and eventually merged with two other Lutheran groups in 1988 to form the ELCA. The 5.2‐million‐member ELCA is generally identified with mainline American Protestantism, while the 2.6‐million‐member LCMS is much more conservative. Of a number of other, much smaller conservative Lutheran denominations, the largest is the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, with 400,000 members.
See also German Americans; Immigration; Religion; Scandinavian Americans.

Bibliography

E. Clifford Nelson, ed., The Lutherans in North America, 1975.

Mark A. Granquist

lutheranism. While the views of Calvin were largely expounded in one treatise, his Institutes, those of Martin Luther (1483–1546) had to be gleaned from a number of tracts and sermons, and developed over time. The most definitive statement was the Formula of Concord, drawn up thirty years after his death by reforming scholars and published, with additions, in the Book of Concord (1580). Luther took the Bible as the ultimate authority for Christians and his main belief was justification by faith alone: it was therefore essential for Christians to understand the Bible and Luther made his own celebrated translation into German. He recognized three sacraments: baptism, the eucharist in both kinds, and penitence. He was as committed to predestination as Calvin, finding no freedom for the human will. He disapproved of the mass, came to mistrust monasticism, advocated (and practised) clerical marriage, and taught the doctrine of the real presence in the eucharist. As his quarrel with the papacy developed, he was led to emphasize the supremacy of the secular ruler in religious matters and most of the Lutheran churches accepted the authority of bishops.

Lutheranism's greatest success was in north Germany and in Scandinavia. In England, his reputation was marred by a sharp theological exchange with Henry VIII, to whose Defence of the Seven Sacraments (1521), which had won from the papacy the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ for the king, Luther replied with Against Henry King of England (1522). The sequel was unfortunate for Luther. He was persuaded in 1525 to offer a humble apology for the ‘hasty and speedy’ printing of his book: Henry's retort was contempt for the man and his views, which were ‘abominable and odious.’ Many English churchmen thought it wise to distance themselves from Luther and to insist that the English Reformation, though having much in common with the German, was autonomous and independent. After Luther's death, the influence of Calvin and Geneva on the English clergy, and certainly on the Scottish, was much greater than that of lutheranism.

J. A. Cannon

Lutheranism While the views of Calvin were largely expounded in one treatise, his Institutes, those of Martin Luther (1483–1546) had to be gleaned from a number of tracts and sermons. Luther took the Bible as the ultimate authority for Christians and his main belief was justification by faith alone: it was therefore essential for Christians to understand the Bible and Luther made his own celebrated translation into German. He recognized three sacraments: baptism, the eucharist in both kinds, and penitence. He was as committed to predestination as Calvin, finding no freedom for the human will.

Lutheranism's greatest success was in north Germany and in Scandinavia. In England, his reputation was marred by a sharp theological exchange with Henry VIII, to whose Defence of the Seven Sacraments (1521), which had won from the papacy the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ for the king, Luther replied with Against Henry King of England (1522). Many English churchmen thought it wise to distance themselves from Luther and to insist that the English Reformation was autonomous and independent. After Luther's death, the influence of Calvin and Geneva on the English clergy, and certainly on the Scottish, was much greater than that of Lutheranism.

Lutheranism Doctrines and Church structure that grew out of the teaching of Martin Luther. The principal Lutheran doctrine is that of justification by faith alone (sola fide). Luther held that grace cannot be conferred by the Church but is the free gift of God's love. He objected to the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. Instead, Luther believed in the real presence of Christ “in, with, and under” the bread and wine (consubstantiation). The essentials of Lutheran doctrine were set down by Philip Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession (1530), which has been the basic document of the Lutherans ever since. In 1947, the Lutheran World Federation was formed as a coordinating body for Lutheranism on a global scale.