Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/619

* LUTHER. 551 LTJTHERANISM. also the English translation of Audin from the French (Philadelphia, 1841) ; also Walther's Lu- ther iin niueslen romischen (Jericht (Halle, 1883- 85). Of special importance from the Roman Catholic standpoint is il. Kvers, .1/. Luther, Le- bens- und Chnrakterbild (Mainz, 1883-91). LUTHERANISM:, and the Lutheran CnrnciiES. The system of theological doctrine and Church polity established in the sixteenth century hy ^lartin Luther and his associates, and the churches representative of such doctrine and polity. Nearly all Protestants of Germany are Lutherans; the established churches of Den- mark. Norway, and Sweden are Lutheran in their theology; the people of Finland and about one- quarter of the population of Switzerland are Lutherans: Lutheran congregations are also found in the other countries of Europe, and in all parts of the world where Lutherans have im- migrated. The name was fir^t given to Protes- tants in derision by their opponents, and was not accepted without protest from Luther. The Protestant movement was not meant to be the founding of a new Church or .sect. Luther and his coadjutors asserted that they aimed solely to purify the Church by reforming abuses which were generally admitted to exist. They advanced -with caution, Luther's conservatism restraining radical and violent measures. While Witten- berg was the heart and centre of the revolu- tion, heralds of the new teaching sprang up everywhere, and in all walks of life. When the Diet" of 1530 was called to prevent the Empire from being rent by religious dissension, and the Lutheran princes and cities were summoned to give an account of themselves, their foremost theologians formulated the doctrines to which they held as their apology. From the city where it was presented, this is known as the Augsburg Confession (r|.v.). In its first article the Re- formers affirmed that they planted themselves on the decrees of the First General Council; and then, article by article, they profess their faith, protesting at the close that "in this sum of doc- trine among us there is nothing which is dis- crepant with the Scriptures, or with the Church Catholic, or even with the Roman Church as known from its writers." The same position was maintained as to ceremonies: "Our churches are wrongfully accused of having abolished the ^lass. For the ilass is still retained among us. yea and almost all the ceremonies that are in use. saving that with the things sung in Latin we minister certain things simg in German." (Art. xxiv.) Popular government in the Cluirch was too great an innovation to be feasible, and the supreme direc- tion of ecclesiastical affairs was committed to the civil rulers. This alliance of Church and State has seriously hampered the free development of Lutheranism. The Lutheran churches to-day stand unequiv- ocally on the same confessional foundation as in 1530! Additional confessions are recognized in some countries: the Apology by which ^Melaneh- thon answered the Roman Catholic Confutation at Augsburg, 1530; the Schmalkald Articles, pre- pared by Luther in 1537 for submission to a promised Ecumenical Council; the two Cate- chisms of Luther (1529); and the Fornnila of Concord, which in 1577 adjusted various contro- versies within the Church. These confessions, with the Apostles', the Xicene, and the Athana- sian. creeds, constitute the Book of Concord (q. v.). But the Augustana (the Augsburg Confession) is the sole universal symbol of Lutheranism. Distinctive Fe.vtihe.s of Lltheraxi.sm. The revolt of Lutheranism from the Roman obedi- ence coincides with the rise of Protestantism, but Protestantism early divided into two branches, the Lutheran and the Reformed. The question. What dilierentiates Lutheranism from other Protestants? has received various answers. The Lutheran Church had l)een identified with the conservative Reformation, the Reformed with the radical — a distinction justified by the violent measures employed t)v the latter, their complete break with the past, etc. Another view places the Lutheran centre of gravity "in the sphere of anthropology," while "the peculiarity of the Re- formed theology is the absolute idea of God." According to another view, "The Lutheran doc- trine comes through the Gospel to God, the Re- formed through CJod to the Gospel." Kurtz characterizes Lutheranism as "the happy mean" between the antagonistic cccelesiastical move- ments and struggles of the West. This mediate and mediating attitude of Lutheranism appears "in its fundamental conception of the essence of Christianity as the union of the divine and human, of which the prototype is found in the person of Christ, in the Scriptures, etc. In the various ways in which this union is conceived lies the deepest and most inward ground of the di- vergence which exists between the three Western churches. The Catholic Church wishes to sec the union of the divine and human ; the Lutheran wishes to helieve it; the Reformed wishes to un- derstand it." Lutheranism, giuirding against any confusion as well as separation of the divine and the human, views their union as "the most vital, rich, and inward comnuuiion, interpenetration, and reciprocity." So it discerns the presence of the Spirit in human and ecclesiastical develop- ments, accepting what is normal, rejecting what conflicts with Scripture. In the person of Christ it affirms the perlect humanity and the i)erfect divinity in the living union and reciprocal com- munication of the two natures. In the sacra- ments it comprehends the objective divine gift which heavenly grace presents in earthly ele- ments, as well' as the subjective condition which determines its saving or its condemning etfic:tcy. All evangelical Protestantism rests upon the formal and the material principles of the Refor- mation ( i.e. the word of God and justification by faith) ; yet the attitiule of Lutheranism toward both is peculiar. It lays more stress than others on the exehisive authiu'ity of the Scriptures. It attaches no more weight to the inner light or to reason than to tradition or the decisions of the Church. It cleaves to the word not only as the sole authority revealing the will of God. hut as a means of grace, an instrument for the inward action of the Sjiirit. It views the Scriptures not only as inspire<l, but inspiring, possessing not only a normative, hut also a dA-namic character. In other Protestant systems "the sole ofilce of the word is to point the way of life." In Lutheranism "it communicates that whereof it treats." The exaltation of the sacrament.s character- istic of Lutheranism grows out of its estimate of the word. The chief constituent of the sacra- ments is the wor.l. They are the visible word, the word crystallized into a rite. "Baptism is not simplv water, but the water comprehended