Luther's religious movement opened up the floodgates for new and radical interpretations of the Bible. New Protestant branches emerged across Europe, such as the Baptists, the Methodists, and the Presbyterians. But the first ever Protestant group were the Lutherans. Here's all you need to know about the Lutheran Church.
Lutheran Church History Timeline
| Date | Event |
| 1517 | Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s colleague Philipp Melanchthon helped him write his new religious ideas. |
| 1521 | Luther was excommunicated (exiled) from the Catholic Church. He went into hiding at Wartburg Castle, and wrote various essays that established the Lutheran Church and its core beliefs. |
| 1530 | The Diet of Augsburg. Charles V imposed a deadline for the Lutheran princes to convert back to Catholicism or face his wrath. |
| 1531 | The Schmalkaldic League was formed to defy Charles V. |
| 1544 | Matthias Flacius was appointed at Wittenberg University. Flacius believed in this new Protestant movement but opposed Melanchthon’s views on Lutheran doctrine. |
| 1546 | Martin Luther died. Philipp Melanchthon takes over as leader of the Lutheran church. |
| 1546-7 | First Schmalkaldic War. Charles V authorised an offensive to defeat the Schmalkaldic League. Charles won and forced the Schmalkaldic League to sign the Augsburg Interim, which pledged agreement to largely Catholic ideas. |
| 1548 | Augsburg Interim split the Lutheran church into Philippists, who agreed with the Interim, and Gnesio-Lutherans, who saw it as a betrayal of their faith. |
| 1552 | Second Schmalkaldic War broke out. The Schmalkaldic League turned the tides and won against Charles V. |
| 1555 | The controversies between Protestants and Catholics continued as they debated their beliefs. After the Schmalkaldic League victory in 1552, Charles agreed to the Peace of Augsburg. This allowed Lutheranism to exist alongside Catholicism in the Holy Roman Empire. |
| 1580 | Book of Concord was compiled and published. This book combined Luther and Melanchthon’s writings into a declaration of Lutheran faith, uniting the majority of the German Lutheran church. |
Lutheran Church Definition
Martin Luther ushered in the Protestant Reformation, challenging the Catholic Church's centuries-old beliefs. Taking his name, the Lutheran Church was soon established.
The Lutheran Church is the Protestant denomination established by Martin Luther. It prioritised the word of the Bible over that of the pope and the Catholic Church.
Difference between the Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church
The Lutheran Church emerged as an alternative to the Catholic Church. In 1517, the priest Martin Luther pinned his 99 theses (points for debate) on the local church door. The Catholic Church rejected Luther's attempt at debate and excommunicated him.
What did Luther oppose about the Catholic Church, an opposition so strong that it led to his excommunication?
Lutheran Church Beliefs
Here are some of the key beliefs of the Lutheran Church, contrasted with Catholic beliefs.
| Belief | Explanation |
| Sola Scriptura | That the Bible (the scripture) was the only source of God's word. This was in direct contrast to Catholicism where the pope was seen as a legitimate secondary source. |
| Sola Gratia | That salvation could not be determined by humans such as the pope. Indulgences were initially a charitable deed you could do to lessen your time in purgatory. By Luther's day, indulgences became corrupt, where wealthy nobles could pay the Church to get salvation.Rejecting this, Luther argued that salvation was in the hands of God and not the Church. It was only through God's divine grace that humans could be saved. |
| Sola Fide | That faith in God alone was enough for humans to achieve salvation. Luther argued that if you had faith, charitable deeds came naturally, so there was no need for indulgences from the pope. |
| Holy sacraments | The sacraments were the holy rituals that all Christians were supposed to go through to deepen their bond with God. Luther only believed in 2 of the 7 sacraments, accepting baptism and the Eucharist. He rejected confirmation, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders, that were part of Catholicism. Luther rejected them as they were not mentioned in the Bible, which he saw as the only source of God's command. |
| Priesthood of all believers | The idea that you did not have to be a special priest or bishop to understand the word of God. Luther argued that Bibles needed to be translated from Latin to more accessible languages, such as German, so everyone could access the word of God. |
| Rejecting the authority of the pope | As the Bible was the only source of authority, Luther rejected the power of the pope. He argued the pope and all the things 'wrong' with the Catholic Church were man-made superstitions, not grounded in the Bible. |
| Celibacy of the clergy | While Catholics believed that priests should never marry, Luther disagreed. He argued there was no Biblical basis for this idea. In 1525 he married Katharina von Bora. |
| Eucharist | This was the sacrament (ritual) performed during Mass (special prayers on Sunday, the holy day). Bread and wine would be eaten representing the body and blood of Christ. Catholics believed that this was literally and physically Christ's body, whereas Luther argued that it was only through the act of eating that these foods became Christ's body. The Eucharist was important because it defined the Christian relationship to Jesus Christ. |
In the Lutheran Church, sermons were given in German rather than the Latin of the Catholic Church. This was part of the Lutheran Church's belief in the priesthood of all believers; that it was not just priests and bishops who got to read and understand God's word.
Lutheran Church History
Luther's new ideas spread like wildfire throughout Europe and even beyond, reaching the shores of North America. However, just like the Catholic Church once faced criticism from Luther, so too did the Lutheran Church experience its own criticism.
Fig. 1 Photograph of the inside of Wittenburg's All Saints' Church, Luther's regular place of worship and the first Lutheran Church.
Conflicting views on the Bible split the Lutheran Church into two camps: the Philippists and the Gnesio-Lutherans. This conflict became even stronger after Martin Luther's death in 1546. It would only be in 1580, with the Book of Concord, that these camps would reconcile.
Lutheran Church Challenges
Throughout the sixteenth century, the Lutheran Church faced multiple challenges as it aimed to expand and spread its message.
Lutheran Church Challenges the Schmalkaldic League 1531
In the sixteenth century, Germany was comprised of different principalities ruled by various princes. The King of Germany was Charles V, who ruled over much of Europe at the time.
Charles V was a staunch Catholic and his other title, Holy Roman Emperor, made him the leading Catholic monarch of Europe. He abhorred Protestantism and gave the German princes a deadline to revert back to Catholicism, or else. This deadline was imposed in the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.
Did you know? A 'diet' was an assembly or council meeting.
The Schmalkaldic League was an alliance between different German princes against the threat of Charles V and the Diet of Augsburg. These princes despised being ruled by a foreign king and were drawn to Lutheranism, partly because of its message, and partly because it offered them a chance t break away from the imposing authority of the Catholic Church. They formed the Schmalkaldic League to protect their own power and religious interests.
Charles V's multiple European territories meant he was spread thin. He could not immediately respond to the Schmalkaldic League as he was dealing with wars in France and the Ottoman Empire. When he reached peace in both those territories in 1544 and 1545 respectively, he waged war against the Schmalkaldic League. This was a major threat to the Lutheran Church, which relied heavily on the support of local rulers.
In 1546, war broke out. Charles V was determined to eradicate what he saw as Protestant heretics within his firmly Catholic empire. By the next year, Charles V had successfully defeated the Schmalkaldic League. That same year, Martin Luther himself died, weakening the Lutheran Church.
Lutheran Challenges the Augsburg and Leipzig Interims 1548
The defeat of the Schmalkaldic League led to the Augsburg and Leipzig Interims. Interims were agreements made by different religious parties in the interest of peace and only lasted a certain period of time.
The Interim agreements made at Augsburg and Leipzig in 1548 saw Melanchthon open to concessions proposed by the Catholic church. Charles V wanted a common religion in the Holy Roman Empire. Melanchthon agreed to compromise with some of Charles’ demands.
Fig. 2 A stained glass image of Philipp Melanchthon. He had a difficult job of maintaining the Lutheran Church after Martin Luther died in 1546.
However, Matthias Flacius disagreed with Melanchthon and saw the Interim as a betrayal of what Luther had stood for.
The Augsburg and Leipzig Interims spelt the divide within the Lutheran church into the two main denominations of Philipp Melanchthon’s Philippists and Matthias Flacius’ Gnesio-Lutherans.
Lutheran Church the Book of Concord 1580
The Book of Concord proved to be a seminal text for the Lutheran church. It brought together the previously divided factions within the Church.
The Formula of Concord was organised by Gnesio-Lutheran Jakob Andreae and Philippist Martin Chemnitz in 1577. Both Andreae and Chemnitz were centrist theologians who wanted to resolve the divide within the Lutheran Church.
Fig. 3 A bronze cast image of Martin Luther at All Saints' Church in Wittenburg
The Formula of Concord was circulated amongst Lutheran princes, pastors and theologians and revised accordingly. The Book of Concord was published in 1580. Approximately two-thirds of the German Lutheran community adopted it as their official doctrine.
Did you know? A formula was a statement of faith, outlining precise religious beliefs.
Within the Concord, there were 6 key pieces of literature from Luther and Melanchthon that shaped Lutheran beliefs. The collection of these six pieces established the Lutheran Church’s beliefs. This allowed for the Lutheran church to establish a theological doctrine which combined religious, social and political factors to forge a Lutheran identity. It helped simplify and unify what the Lutheran Church stood for, enabling its expansion outside Germany.
Lutheran Church - Key takeaways
- The Lutheran Church was created by Martin Luther after his 95 Theses were published in 1517.
- The Lutheran Church believed in following the three principles of sola sciptura, sola gratia, and sola fide to define human salvation. They only believed in the 2 (out of the Catholic 7) holy sacraments. These were Baptism and the Eucharist.
- When Luther died in 1546 the Church split into Melanchthon's "Philippists" and Flacius' "Gnesio-Lutherans".
- The Schmalkaldic League saw a successful alliance between Lutheran princes in the 1546 against the Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire. The Augsburg and Leipzig Interims split the Lutheran Church over the compromises made to Catholics.
- The Church was brought together by the creation of the Book of Concord in 1580 by Philippists and Gnesio-Lutherans, which included 6 key pieces of religious literature to declare the Lutheran faith.
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