Lutheranism the Series
Protestant Reformation
Lutheran Orthodoxy
Gnesio-Lutherans
Pietists
Haugeans
Laestadians
Finnish Awakening
Old Lutherans
Neo Lutherans
High Church Lutherans
Confessional Lutherans
Protestant Reformation
“The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church. The Reformation ended the unity imposed by medieval Christianity and, in the eyes of many historians, signaled the beginning of the modern era. A weakening of the old order was already under way in Northern Europe, as evidenced by the emergence of thriving new cities and a determined middle class.
“In 1517, in one of the signal events of western history, Martin Luther, a German Augustinian monk, posted 95 theses on a church door in the university town of Wittenberg. That act was common academic practice of the day and served as an invitation to debate. Luther’s propositions challenged some portions of Roman Catholic doctrine and a number of specific practices.
“The movement quickly gained adherents in the German states, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Scotland and portions of France. Support came from sincere religious reformers, while others manipulated the movement to gain control of valuable church property.
“The term Protestant was not initially applied to the reformers, but later was used to describe all groups protesting Roman Catholic orthodoxy.” ^[1]^
As the hope of reforming the Roman church faded, the “protestants” were forced to separate from Roman Catholicism resulting in Lutheran churches in Germany, Scandinavia and some eastern European countries, the Reformed churches in Switzerland and the Netherlands, Presbyterian churches in Scotland, and the Anglican church in England, and other diverse elements all of which have evolved into the Protestant denominations of today.
Precursors to the Reformation
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (1330–84) attacked what he saw as corruptions within the church, including the sale of indulgences, pilgrimages, the excessive veneration of saints, and the low moral and intellectual standards of ordained priests.
Wycliffe also repudiated the doctrine of transubstantiation, held that the Bible was the sole standard of Christian doctrine, and argued that the authority of the Pope was not grounded in Scripture. Some of Wycliffe’s early followers translated the Bible into English, while later followers, known as Lollards, held that the Bible was the sole authority and that Christians were called upon to interpret the Bible for themselves. The Lollards also argued against clerical celibacy, transubstantiation, mandatory oral confession, pilgrimages, and indulgences.
John Huss
John Huss (1369–1415) — A Bohemian priest, excommunicated in 1410, and burned at the stake for heresy in 1415. His death lead to the Hussite Wars in Bohemia. Huss followed Wycliffe’s teachings closely, translating Wycliffe’s Trialogus into Czechoslovakian, and modeling the first ten chapters of his own De Ecclesia after Wycliffe’s writings. He believed in predestination, regarded the Bible as the ultimate religious authority, and argued that Christ, rather than any ecclesiastical official, is the true head of the church.
Prominent figures in the Reformation
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483–1546) — In 1517, nails his 95 Theses onto a Wittenberg Church door. These theses were Latin propositions opposing the manner in which indulgences (release from the temporal penalties for sin through the payment of money) were being sold in order to raise money for the building of Saint Peter’s in Rome.
Huldreich Zwingli
Huldreich Zwingli (1484–1531) — Swiss theologian and leader of early Reformation movements in Switzerland. Vigorously denounces the sale of indulgences in 1518.
John Calvin
John Calvin (1509–64) — Calvin was a French theologian and reformer who fled religious persecution in France and settled in Geneva in 1536. He instituted a form of Church government in Geneva which has become known as the Presbyterianchurch. He insisted on reforms including: the congregational singing of the Psalms as part of church worship, the teaching of a catechism and confession of faith to children, and the enforcement of a strict moral discipline in the community by the pastors and members of the church. Geneva was, under Calvin, essentially a theocracy.
John Knox
John Knox (1513–1572) — An ardent disciple of Calvin, Knox established Calvinistic Protestantism as the national religion of Scotland. He left a powerful political legacy within the Calvinist or Reformed branch of Protestantism, a political legacy known as Presbyterianism.
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (1491–1547) — In 1533, Henry was excommunicated by the pope for marrying Anne Boleyn and having the archbishop of Canterbury sanction the divorce from his first wife, Catherine. In 1534, Henry had Parliament pass an act appointing the king and his successors supreme head of the Church of England, thus establishing an independent national Anglican church.
Theological Issues of the Reformation
The theology of the Reformers departed from the Roman Catholic Church primarily on the basis of three great principles:^[2]^
- Sole authority of Scripture,
- Justification by faith alone, and
- Priesthood of the believer.
Sola Scriptura
Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) was one of the watchwords of the Reformation. This doctrine maintains that Scripture, as contained in the Bible, is the only authority for the Christian in matters of faith, life and conduct. The teachings and traditions of the church are to be completely subordinate to the Scriptures. Roman Catholicism, on the other hand, holds Scripture and Tradition to be of the same inspired Deposit of Faith.
Sola Fide
Sola Fide (by faith alone) was the other watchword of the Reformation. This doctrine maintains that we are justified before God (and thus saved) by faith alone, not by anything we do, not by anything the church does for us, and not by faith plus anything else. It was also recognized by the early Reformers that Sola Fide is not rightly understood until it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of Sola Gratia, by grace alone. Hence the Reformers were calling the church back to the basic teaching of Scripture where the apostle Paul states that we are “saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God,” Eph. 2:8.
Priesthood of all believers
The third great principle of the Reformation was the priesthood of all believers. The Scriptures teach that believers are a “holy priesthood,” 1 Pet. 2:5. All believers are priests before God through our great high priest Jesus Christ. “There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Tim. 2:5. As believers, we all have direct access to God through Christ, there is no necessity for an earthly mediator. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox concept of the priesthood was seen as having no warrant in Scripture, viewed as a perversion and mis-application of the Old Testament Aaronic or Levitical priesthood which was clearly fulfilled in Christ and done away with by the New Testament.
As a result of these principles, the Reformers rejected the authority of the Pope, the merit of good works, indulgences, the mediation of Mary and the Saints, all but the two sacraments instituted by Christ (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper), the doctrine of transubstantiation, the mass as a sacrifice, purgatory, prayers for the dead, confessions to a priest, the use of Latin in the services, and all the paraphernalia that expressed these ideas.
Lutheran orthodoxy
was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was parallelled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Roman Catholicismafter the Counter-Reformation. The Book of Concord gave inner unity to Lutheranism, which had many controversies, mostly between Gnesio-Lutherans and Philippists in Roman Catholic outward pressure and in alleged “crypto-Calvinistic” influence. Theology became now more like stable theoretical defining. Scholastic paradigm was gradually adopted again for theological argumentation against Jesuits and it was finally established by Johann Gerhard. Abraham Calovius represents the climax of Lutheran scholasticism. Other orthodox Lutheran theologians were e.g. Martin Chemnitz, Leonhard Hutter, Nicolaus Hunnius, Jesper Rasmussen Brochmand, Salomo Glassius, Johann Conrad Dannhauer, Johannes Andreas Quenstedt, Johann Friedrich König and Johann Wilhelm Baier. Theological heritage of Philip Melanchthon rose up again in Helmstedt School and especially in theology of Georgius Calixtus, which caused Syncretistic Strife. Other theological issue was Crypto-Kenotic Controversy. The last famous orthodox Lutheran theologian before Enlightenment and Neology was David Hollatz. Late orthodox Valentin Ernst Löscher took part in controversy against Pietism. Congregations maintained the full Mass rituals in their normal worship as suggested by Luther. In his Hauptgottesdienst (Main Service of Worship), Holy Communion was celebrated on each Sunday and festival. The traditional parts of the service were retained. Services were conducted in vernacular language, but in Germany, Latin was also present in both the Ordinary and Proper parts of the service. This helped students maintain their familiarity with the language. As late as the time of Johann Sebastian Bach, churches in Leipzig still heard Polyphonic motets in Latin, Latin Glorias, chanted Latin collects and The Creed sung in Latin by the choir Church music flourished and this era is considered as a “golden age” of Lutheran hymnody. Some hymnwriters include Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heermann, Johann von Rist and Benjamin Schmolck in Germany, Haquin Spegel in Sweden, Thomas Hansen Kingo in Denmark, Petter Dass in Norway, Hallgrímur Pétursson in Iceland and Hemminki Maskulainen in Finland. The most famous orthodox Lutheran hymnwriter is Paul Gerhardt. Prominent church musicians and composers include Michael Praetorius, Melchior Vulpius, Johann Hermann Schein, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Crüger, Dieterich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach Orthodoxy produced numerous postils, which were important devotional reading and with hymns conserved orthodox Lutheran spirituality later in age of Pietism and Neology. E.g. Johann Gerhard, Heinrich Müller and Christian Scriver wrote also other kind of devotional literature. Mediaeval mystical tradition continued in works of Martin Moller, Johann Arndt and Joachim Lütkemann. Pietism became rival of orthodoxy but adopted some orthodox devotional literature like Arndt’s, Scriver’s and Prätorius’ which have later often been mixed with pietistic literature. Generally 17th century was more difficult age than the age of reformation, e.g. due to Thirty Years’ War. This can be seen often also in hymns and devotional writings. The era of Lutheran orthodoxy is not well known, and it has been very often looked at only through the view of neo-protestantic Liberal theology and Pietism and thus underestimated. Also the wide gap between theology of orthodoxy and rationalism has sometimes more or less limited later theological neo-Lutheran and confessional Lutheran attempts to understand and restore Lutheran orthodoxy. Most significant theologians of orthodoxy can be said to be Martin Chemnitzand Johann Gerhard. Lutheran orthodoxy can also be reflected in such rulers as Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburgand Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
“Gnesio-Lutherans”
is a modern name for a theological party in the Lutheran Church, in opposition to the Philippists after the death of Martin Luther and before the Formula of Concord. In their own day they were called Flacians by their opponents and simply Lutherans by themselves. Later Flacian became to mean an adherent of Matthias Flacius’ extreme view of original sin, rejected by the Formula of Concord. In a broader meaning, the term Gnesio-Lutheran is associated mostly with the defense of the doctrine of Real Presence.
Pietists
was an influential movement in Lutheranism that combined its emphasis on Biblical doctrine with the Reformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life. the movement was active exclusively within Lutheranism, it had a tremendous impact on Protestantism worldwide, particularly in North America and Europe. Pietism originated in modern Germany in the late 17th century with the work of Philipp Spener, a Lutheran theologian whose emphasis on personal transformation through spiritual rebirth and renewal, individual devotion and piety laid the foundations for the movement. Although Spener did not directly advocate the quietistic, legalistic and semi-separatist practices of Pietism, they were more or less involved in the positions he assumed or the practices which he encouraged.
Pietism spread from Germany to Switzerland and the rest of German-speaking Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics (where it was heavily influential, leaving a permament mark on the region’s dominant Lutheranism, with figures like Hans Nielsen Hauge in Norway, Carl Olof Rosenius in Sweden, Katarina Asplund in Finland, and Barbara von Krüdener in the Baltics), and the rest of Europe. It was further taken to North America, primarily by German and Scandinavian immigrants. There, it influenced Protestants of other ethnic backgrounds, taking part in the 18th century foundation of Evangelicalism, a vibrant movement within Protestantism that today has some 300 million followers.
The movement reached its zenith in the mid-18th century, and declined through the 19th century, and had almost vanished in America by the end of the 20th century. While declining as an identifiable Lutheran group, some of its theological tenets influenced Protestantism generally, inspiring the Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement and Alexander Mack to begin the Brethren movement among Anabaptists.
In the United States, during some of its history Protestant denominations came to be categorized by historians as either pietistic or liturgical depending on their theology, as well as on their general support of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Pietistic Protestants included Quakers, Free Will Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Regular Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and some Protestants from the British and African-American communities — all based in the Northern United States; some of these groups in the South would rather support the Democrats. A substantial part of the Pietistic Protestants was formed by German Sectarians, Norwegian Lutherans, Swedish Lutherans, and Haugean Norwegians.
Though Pietism shares an emphasis on personal behavior with the Puritan movement, and the two are often confused, there are important differences, particularly in the concept of the role of religion in government.
Haugeans
The Haugean movement, or Haugeanism (Norwegian: haugianere), was a pietistic state church reform movement intended to bring new life and vitality into the Church of Norwaywhich had been often characterized by formalism and lethargy. The Haugean movement took its name from the lay evangelist Hans Nielsen Hauge. It played an important part in nurturing the democratic folk movement of the time, and stimulating the entrance into politics of representatives of the rural population. It increased tensions between the more privileged classes and the common people, as well as between the clergy and the laity. Hans Nielsen Hauge worked as a lay preacher at a time when such activity was forbidden by law. The Conventicle Act of 1741 prohibited any religious meetings not authorized by the state church: a response to radical Pietism within Norwegian cities. The act decreed that religious gatherings could be held only under the supervision of a state approved minister. The pastor was thought to be the only person who could correctly interpret the teachings of the Norwegian State Church. The ministers had the sole right to administer the sacraments, and as a public official he was accountable to the state for the Christian indoctrination of his flock. Hauge came to feel that he had a divine call which made it mandatory for him to break this law and proclaim the word of God directly among his fellowmen. He advocated a priesthood of all believers. He felt that people had to be awakened to a consciousness of their sins before they could begin to gain salvation through the grace of God. According to Hauge’s views, the State Church failed to provide parishioners with a personal religious experience. Hauge’s religious teachings were therefore viewed as attacks on the state church and its ministers.
Laestadians
is a conservative Lutheran revival movement started in Lapland in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish state church administrator and temperance movement leader Lars Levi Laestadius, it is strongly marked by both pietistic and Moravian influences. It is the biggest revivalist movement in the Nordic countries. It has members mainly in Finland, North America, Norway, Russia and Sweden. There are also smaller congregations in Africa, South America and Central Europe. In addition Laestadians have missionaries in 23 countries. The name of the movement stems from Lars Levi Laestadius (1800–1861), a Swedish Sámi preacher and administrator for the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who was also a noted botanist. Laestadius started the movement when working as a pastor for the Church of Sweden in northern Sweden in the 1840s. Laestadius met a Sami woman named Milla Clementsdotter from Föllinge in the municipality of Krokom in Jämtland during an 1844 inspection tour of Åsele in Lapland. She belonged to a revival movement within the Church of Sweden led by pastor Pehr Brandell of the parish of Nora in the municipality of Kramfors in Ångermanland and characterized by pietistic and Moravian influences. She told Laestadius about her spiritual experiences on her journey to a truly living Christianity, and after the meeting Laestadius felt he had come to understand the secret of living faith. He had had a deep experience of having entered a state of grace, of having receiving God’s forgiveness for his sins and of at last truly seeing the path that leads to eternal life. His sermons acquired, in his own words, “a new kind of colour” to which people began to respond. The movement began to spread from Sweden to Finland and Norway, particularly among the Sámi and the Kvens. He preferred his followers to be known simply as “Christians”, but others started to call them “Laestadians.”
Finnish Awakening
(Finnish: herännäisyys or körttiläisyys) is a Lutheran religious movement in Finland which has found followers in the provinces of Savo and Ostrobothnia. The origins of the movement are in the 18th century. It has functioned inside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland throughout its existence. Formerly very pietist, the movement is currently considered within mainstream Finnish Lutheranism. a religion would be a difficult thing to reconcile with empiricism, since so much of religion depends on faith and belief in a higher power. The Catholic Church had quite a following in the North American colonies; so did the Protestant religions. However, in the 17th and 18th Centuries, people began to find the need for getting back in touch with religion. This happened in a big way in the first half of the 18th Century.
Old Lutherans
are German Lutherans in Prussia and Silesia who refused to join the Prussian Union of churches in the 1830s and 1840s. Prussia’s king Frederick William IIIwas determined to unify the Protestant churches, to homogenize their liturgy, organization and even their architecture. In a series of proclamations over several years the Church of the Prussian Union was formed, bringing together the majority group of Lutherans, the minority of Reformed. The main effect was that the government of Prussia had full control over church affairs, with the king recognized as the leading bishop. Attempted suppression of the Old Lutherans led many to emigrate to Australia, Canada, and the United States, resulting in the creation of significant Lutheran denominationsin those countries.The legacy of Old Lutherans also survives in the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in modern Germany.
Neo Lutherans
a 19th-century revival movement within Lutheranism which began with the Pietist driven Erweckung, or Awakening, and developed in reaction against theological rationalism and pietism. This movement followed the Old Lutheran movement and focused on a reassertion of the identity of Lutherans as a distinct group within the broader community of Christians, with a renewed focus on the Lutheran Confessions as a key source of Lutheran doctrine. Associated with these changes was a renewed focus on traditional doctrine and liturgy, which paralleled the growth of Anglo-Catholicism in England. It was sometimes even called “German Puseyism”. Neo-Lutheranism was a reaction against the Prussian Union. A divide developed in neo-Lutheranism whereby one side held to repristination theology which tried to restore historical Lutheranism while the other held to the theology of the Erlangen School. The repristination theology group was represented by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg, Carl Paul Caspari, Gustav Adolf Theodor Felix Hönecke, Friedrich Adolf Philippi, and C.F.W. Walther. neo-Lutheranism is sometimes called only theology and activity represented by Theodor Friedrich Dethlof Kliefoth, August Friedrich Christian Vilmar, Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe, August Friedrich Otto Münchmeyer and Friedrich Julius Stahl who had particularly high ecclesiology. They were polemic against idea of invisible church, strongly claiming church as an outward, visible institution of salvation and therefore laid emphasis on ordained ministry instituted by Christ and significance of sacraments above word as Means of Grace. However, unlike the Erlangen School, this neo-Lutheranism did not make lasting influence on Lutheran theology. Properly speaking, High Church Lutheranism began in Germany much later, 1917 the Hochkirchliche Vereinigung Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses was created, inspired by 95 theses Stimuli et Clavi, exactly 100 years after Claus Harms’ 95 theses.
Neo-Lutheranism should not be confused with term Neo-Protestantism, represented e.g. by Adolf von Harnack and his followers, which means exclusively liberal theology.
High Church Lutherans
a movement which began in 20th-century Europe that emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within both Roman Catholicism and the Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism. In the more general usage of the term it describes the general High Church characteristics of Lutheranism in the Nordic countries such as Sweden, Finland and the Baltics. The mentioned countries, once a part of the Swedish Empire, have more markedly preserved Catholic traditions and introduced far less Reformed (that is, Calvinistic or Zwinglian) theology. The terms High Church and Low Church do not originally belong to the Lutheran tradition; historically, these have been applied to particular liturgical and theological groups within Anglicanism. The theological differences within Lutheranism have not been nearly so marked as those within the Anglican Communion; Lutherans have historically been unified in the doctrine expressed in the Book of Concord. However, quite early in Lutheranism, polarities began to develop owing to the influence of the Reformed tradition, leading to so-called “Crypto-Calvinism”. The Pietist movement in the 17th century also moved the Lutheran church further in a direction that would be considered “low church” by Anglican standards. Pietism and rationalism led not only to the simplification or even elimination of certain ceremonial elements, such as the use of vestments, but also to less frequent celebration of the Eucharist, by the end of the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. There has been very little iconoclasm in Lutheran churches and church buildings have often remained richly furnished. Also some monasteries continued as Lutheran after Reformation. Loccum Abbey and Amelungsborn Abbey in Germany have the longest traditions as Lutheran monasteries.
In old church orders, however there was much variation which could now be described as “high church” or “low church”. One example of the more Catholic ones is the Swedish Church Ordinance 1571. Agenda of the church order of Margraviate of Brandenburg (1540) contained unusually rich provision for ceremonial usages. his legacy of Brandenburgian Lutheranism has later been visible in Old Lutherans’ resistance to compromise in the doctrine of Real Presence. Other church orders following closely to pre-Reformation rites and ceremonies were Palatinate-Neuburg (1543, retaining a eucharistic prayer and Austria (1571, prepared by David Chytraeus). An interesting fact is that William Augustus Mühlenberg, father of the Ritualist movement in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, was originally Lutheran and came from a Lutheran family. In Europe, after long influence of Pietism, theological rationalism and finally 19th century German Neo-Protestantism, there was developed a ground for 20th-century High Church or Evangelical Catholic Movement. the terms “High Church” (Evangelical Catholic) and “Low Church” (Confessing Evangelical) began to be used to describe differences within the Lutheran tradition. However, this terminology is not characteristic of a Lutheran’s identity as it often the case for an Anglican.
Confessional Lutherans
a name used by Lutherans to designate those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety because they are completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible. because we profess, as we do, the statements made in an old book published in 1580 called “The Book of Concord.” the Lutheran’s confessions are legitimate simply because they can be backed up by the Scriptures. And so, these “professions” of faith is what leads to calling them “confessions” of faith. Hence, “Confessional Lutherans” are those Lutherans who still maintain a robust and unwavering loyalty to God’s Word in this day and age of political correctness and relativism (2 Corinthians 5:20; Galatians 1:10). Such loyalty is fueled by the statements of faith that exist in the Book of Concord. the confessions in the Book of Concord important to us is the mere fact that they are in complete agreement with the Scriptures, and, in a sense, merely emphasize and underscore the truths already revealed to us in His Word (Matthew 4:4; Luke 1:1–4; Luke 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Certainly, Sola Scriptura, or “Scripture Alone,” speaks to the primary authority and supremacy of God’s Word above all else. In Luke 10:26, Jesus expected even His enemies to correctly interpret the Bible by simply reading and studying it. And then there’s 2 Timothy 2:15 for us too. Plus, Jesus also said, “It is written” several times, didn’t He? The Book of Concord is how Lutherans are able to say, together, as a church, “This is what we believe. This is what we teach. This is what we confess.” The reason we have the Book of Concord is because of how highly we value correct teaching and preaching of God’s Word. confession means “to say what you believe.” The Lutheran Confessions are statements of faith that Lutherans use to say to the world, “This is what we believe, teach and confess.”
