The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Lutheranism S 269

In the 1700s another intellectual and cultural movement, the Enlightenment, influenced some Lutheran theologians. Thinkers and philosophers of the Enlightenment rejected MIRACLES and super naturalism. Theologians whom this movement influenced advocated a religion strictly consistent with the laws of nature. In the early 1800s the king of Prussia tried to join Lutheran and Calvinist churches ( see P RESBY TERIAN AND R EFORMED CHURCHES ) into a single Protes tant church. Some Lutherans reacted strongly both to the Enlightenment and to the “church union.” They insisted on preserving the traditional teach ings of Lutheranism as found in written summa ries known as the “confessions.” At the same time, large numbers of Lutherans began immigrating to the United States. Lutherans had lived especially in the mid-Atlantic region even earlier: But American Lutheranism grew tremen dously from the immigrations of the 19th century. The Lutheranism that resulted was extremely frag mented. People of various nationalities—Germans, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Finns—preferred to WORSHIP in their own languages in their own national churches. At the time of the Civil War, the oldest American Lutherans even split into Northern and Southern churches. In addition, Lutherans influ enced by the confessional movement in Germany did not consider other Lutherans genuinely Lutheran. The watchword of the 20th century was uni fication. But Lutheran unification was not total unification. At the end of the century there were two major American Lutheran bodies. The larger body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, included the Lutheran churches founded in colonial days as well as many of the 19th-century national churches. The other body, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, preserved the heritage of the Ger man confessional movement of the 19th century. On a global scale, 20th-century Lutherans began to work together in the Lutheran World Federation. BELIEFS Lutherans acknowledge the B IBLE as the Word of G OD . They differ on what that means. Some insist that every word of the Bible is literally true. Others

Press, 2003); Martin E. Marty, Martin Luther (New York: Penguin, 2004); James A. Nestingen, Martin Luther: A Life (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2003); Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, eds., Luther’s Works (CD-ROM; Philadelphia and St. Louis: Fortress Press and Concordia Publishing House, 2002). Lutheranism The branch of C HRISTIANITY that marks its rise directly from Martin L UTHER . Lutheran churches sometimes call themselves “evangelical.” This term goes back to German usage. It means something quite different from “Evangelical Christianity” in the British context ( see E VANGELICAL C HRISTIANITY and FUNDAMENTALISM , C HRISTIAN ). HISTORY Martin Luther began the Protestant R EFORMATION in October 1517, when he nailed 95 “theses” or propositions to be debated to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The Reformation eventu ally produced many forms of P ROTESTANTISM . Those who followed Luther’s teachings became known as Lutherans. In Europe they are found especially in Germany and Scandinavia. Lutheranism spread in the 1500s to Scandina via, where it became the established or official reli gion of various states. In Germany Lutherans lived in a state of war—literally—with Catholics until 1648. Then Lutheranism became the established religion of various German principalities. In both settings, in a war for survival and as state church, Lutheran leaders emphasized the need to maintain “pure doctrine,” which meant the truth of Christi anity as Luther had taught it. Lutheranism became a detailed set of beliefs to which people had to subscribe. A reaction to this kind of religion began in the late 1600s. It was called Pietism. Pietism empha sized what it saw as a genuine religion of the heart, as opposed to a sterile religion of the head. When Pietists put this emphasis into practice, they founded charitable institutions such as orphan ages. They also engaged in missionary work.