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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that identifies primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 1517. [ 1] Lutheranism subsequently became the state religion of many parts of Northern Europe .
Lutheranism would become known as a separate movement after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg, which was convened by Charles V to try to stop the growing Protestant movement. At the Diet, Philipp Melanchthon presented a written summary of Lutheran beliefs called the Augsburg Confession. Several of the German princes (and later, kings and princes of ...
Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history. [4] Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ( ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of 2022, it has approximately 2.9 million baptized members in 8,640 congregations.
[1] Lutherans tend to follow Luther in this matter. For the Lutheran tradition, the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is the material principle upon which all other teachings rest. [2] Luther came to understand justification as being entirely the work of God.
Founded in 1993, the International Lutheran Council (ILC) is the second largest international association of Lutheran churches after the LWF, representing 7.15 million Lutherans in 54 church bodies as of 2018. [134] [135] Unlike the members of the LWF, not all members of the ILC are in altar and pulpit fellowship with one another.
The Book of Concord (1580) or Concordia (often referred to as the Lutheran Confessions) is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century. They are also known as the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The Lutheran Confessions: History and Theology of the Book of Concord (2012) Bodensieck, Julius, ed. The encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (3 vol 1965) vol 1 and 3 online free; Brauer, James Leonard and Fred L. Precht, eds. Lutheran Worship: History and Practice (1993) Brug, John F., Fredrich II, Edward C., Schuetze, Armin W., WELS and Other ...