Lutheranism

Lutherans from the Tirol journeying to Georgia, USA, in 1732. Lutherans from the Netherlands and Sweden were among the earliest colonists to settle in the eastern United States, mainly along the Delaware River, while those from Germany and Austria settled largely in Georgia and Canada. They subsequently spread westwards across the USA, establishing a particularly strong presence in the Midwest.

Leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther. His translation of the Bible from Latin, the accepted language of the clergy and scholars, into the German vernacular was a revolutionary act in defiance of Rome. Known as the Lutheran Bible, it was first printed in 1534 and contributed significantly to the spread and development of the German language.

The German theologian Martin Luther, c.1520, the year he burned the papal bull that condemned his teachings. Impatient with traditional Catholic doctrine, he attacked the practise of papal indulgences by nailing his famous ‘Ninety-five Theses’ to the door of the Wittenberg Church. The ensuing bitter controversy led to his excommunication.

Form of Protestant Christianity derived from the life and teaching of Martin Luther; it is sometimes called Evangelical to distinguish it from the other main branch of European Protestantism, the Reformed. The most generally accepted statement of Lutheranism is that of the Confession of Augsburg in 1530 but Luther's Shorter Catechism also carries great weight. It is the largest Protestant body, including some 80 million persons, of whom 40 million are in Germany, 19 million in Scandinavia, 8.5 million in the USA and Canada, with most of the remainder in central Europe.

Lutheranism is the principal form of Protestantism in Germany, and is the national faith of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The organization may be episcopal (Germany, Sweden) or synodal (the Netherlands and USA): the Lutheran World Federation has its headquarters in Geneva. In the USA, Lutheranism is particularly strong in the Midwest, where several churches were originally founded by German and Scandinavian immigrants.

The Evangelical Lutherans were formed in 1988 from merger of the Lutheran Church of America, the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. Lutheranism in the USA is divided into three main bodies: the Lutheran Church in America, formed in 1962 from the United Lutheran Church, Augustana Lutheran Church (Swedish), the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the American Evangelical Lutheran Church (Danish); the more conservative Lutheran Church, the Missouri Synod; and the American Lutheran Church (largely Norwegian and centred in the upper Midwest).

The Evangelical Lutheran Church installed Mark Hanson as its new presiding bishop in October 2001 at a ceremony on the University of Chicago campus, Illinois. Hanson, 54, has previously voiced support for the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, and the formation of a pact with the Episcopal Church to share clergy, sacraments, and ministries.