Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/505

 LUTHXBAHISM

462

LUTHS&AVISM

members jure appointed by the g^vermnent. No Di- vinely constituted hierarchy is reoognixedi and in orders all the clergy are considered as equals. The Lu- theran bishops of Sweden and Denmark, like the "general superintendents'' of Germany, are govern- ment officials entrusted with the oversight of me pas- tors and congregations. In Holland and the United States, as among the Free Churches of Germany, the form of oiganization is synodical, a system of church polity which in its main features has been derived from the Reformed Church. According to this pl^i, purely congregational matters are decided by the vote of the congregation, either directly or through the church council. In the United States the church ooimcil consists of the pastor and his lay assistants, the elders and deacons, all chosen by the congres^. tion. Affairs of more general importance and dis- puted questions are settled by the district synod, composed of lay and clerical delegates representing Buch congregations as have accepted a mutual congre- gational compact. The congr^ations composing a district synod may unite with other district synods to form a more general body. The powers of a general oiganization of this kind, in relation to the belies of wmch it is composed, are not, however, in all cases the same. The constitution of the Old Lutheran Church in Germany makes its General Synod the last court of appeal and its decisions bindmg. In the United States a different conception prev^ls, and in most in- stances the general assemblies are regarded simply as advisory conferences whose decisions require the rati- fication of the particular organizations represented.

Lutheran pubUc worship is based on the service- book which Luther published in 1523 and 1526. He retained the first part of the Mass, but abolished the Offertory, Canon, and all the forms of sacrifice. The niain Lutheran service is still known as "the Mass'* in Scandinavian coimtries. The singing of hynms became a prominent part of the new service. Many Catholic sequences were retained, and other sacred sones were borrowed from the old German poets. Luther himself wrote hymns, but it is doubtful whether he is really the author of any of the melodies that are usually ascribed to him. Luther wished to retain the Elevation and the use of the Latin language, but these have been abandoned. The Collect, Epistte, and Gospel vary according to the Sundays of the year. The Creed is followed by a sermon on the Scripture lesson of the day. which is the principal part of the service. Ordinarily the Lord's Supper is administered only a few times during the year. It is preceded, sometimes the day before, by the service of public confession and absolution, which consists in the prom- ise of amendment made by the intending communi- cants, and the declaration of the minister that such as are truly penitent are forgiven. Only two sacraments are recognized by Lutherans, Baptism and the Lord's Supper; but Confirmation, Ordination, and C<xifes- non as just described are regarded as sacred rites. There are also ceremonies prescribed for marriage and burial. Christmas. Easter, Pentecost, the feast of the Twelve Apostles, the Commemoration of the Reforma- tion (31 Oct.) are observed with religious services. Pictures are permitted in the churches, and in Den- mark vestments and light^ candles are used at the communion service. The first complete ritual or agenda was that prepared for the Duchy of Prussia in 1625. There is no uniform liturgy for the churches. In the United Evangelical Church of Germany the agenda of Frederick William III (1817) is the official form. The services of the American Lutherans were for many years chiefly extemporaneous, but since 1888 a common service based on the liturgies of the six- teenth century has been used by almost all English- i^peaking Lutherans in this country. It includes, be- sides the main service, matins and vespers.

IV. Vabious Lutheran Activituds. — (1) Foreign

MiaiioM and BenevoUni OrganuaUons. — ^Foreign mis- sionary activity has never been a very prominent diaracteristic of the Luthenm Church. Its pioneer missionaries went from the University of Halle to the East Indies (Tanquebar) at the invitation of Fred- erick IV of Denmark in 1705. During the eighteenth oentuiy Halle sent about sixty missionaries to Tanque- bar. In later years the mission was supplied by the Leipzig Lutheran Mission. Another Danish mission was tfa^t of Pastor Hans Eg^e among the Green- landers in 1721. During the nineteenth century sev- eral societies for foreign missions were founded: the Beriin Mission Society (1824), the Evangelical Lu- theran Missionary Association of Leipzig (1836), the Hermansburg Society (1854), and a number of similar organisations in the Scandinavian countries. In the United States a German Foreign Missionary Society was founded in 1837. The first Lutheran missionary from the United States was Dr. Heyer, who was sent to India in 1841. At present missions to the heathen in Oceania, India, and East Africa, are maintained under the auspices of various American synods. The sisterhood, known as the Lutheran Deaconesses, was founded by Pastor Fliedner at Kaiserwerth in 1833, its objects being the care of the sick, instruction, etc. They are now very numerous in some parts of Ger- many. They were introduced in the United States in 1849.

(2) Sacred Learning and Education. — ^The study of exe^tics, church history, and theology has been much cultivated by Lutheran scholars. Among the exegetes the following are well known: Solomon Glassius (Phi- lologia Sacra, 1623); Sebastian Schmid (d. 1696), translator and commentator; John H. Michaelis (Bibha Hebraica, 1720); John A. Bengel (Gnomon Novi Testamenti, 1752) ; Havemick (d. 1845), Heg&- tenberg (d. 1869), and Delitzsch (d. 1890), commen- tators. Among the more important church historians may be mentioned: Mosheim (d. 1755), sometimes cidled the "Father of Modern Church History", Schrockle (d. 1808), Neander (d. 1850), Kurtz (d. 1890). Haae (d. 1890). The "Magdeburg Centuries" (1559) of Fladus lUyricus and his associates, the firet church history written by Protestants, is very biased and has no historical value. Numerous dogmatic works have been written by Lutheran theologians. Among the dogmaticians most esteemed b}r Lutherans are: Melanchthon, whose "Loci Theologici" (1521) was the first Lutheran theology; Martin Chemmtz (d. 1586) and John Gerhard (d. 1637), the two ablest Lutheran theologians; Calovius (d. 1686), champion of the strictest Lutheran orthodoxy; Quenstedt (d. 1688)^ Hollaz(d. 1713); Luthardt (d. 1902) ; Henry Schmid, whose dogmatic theology (1st ed., 1843) in its En^ish translation has been much used in the United States. The Lutheran Church still produces many dogmatic works, but very few of the modern divines hold strictly to the old formula; of faith.

The Lutheran Churches deserve great credit for the importance they have always attached to religious instruction, not ovly in their many universities, but also and especially in the schools of elementary in- struction. In Lutheran countries the education of the children is supervised by the religious authorities, since Lutherans act on the principle that religious training is the most important part of education. The catechism. Biblical study, and church music have a

Prominent part in the everyday instruction. In the fnited States the parochial school has been developed with great success among the congregations that still use the German and Scandinavian languages. The Lutherans of Wisconsin and Illinois co-operated with the Catholics in 1890 in an organized resistance against legislation which would have proved injurious to the parochial schools.

V. Influence op Rattonausbc in the Lutheran CHUBCHS8.-r-The popular faith had been overthrown