Lutheranism refers to the Protestant movement in Christianity. This is one of the oldest directions that arose in the 16th century. Currently, Lutheranism is widespread where it came from - mainly the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Estonia and Latvia.
History of the origin of Lutheranism
The history of Lutheranism began in 1517 in Germany with the Protestant movement. A Catholic theologian named Martin Luther decided to cleanse the religion of dogmatic errors, in connection with which he was declared a heretic. Later he became a reformer, but before that he was forced to hide in the Wartburg castle in Eisenach under the name Georg Juncker, where he translated the New Testament into German. It later became known in Lutheranism as the Luther Bible. In 1529, Protestantism officially became a current of Catholicism after twenty signatures were affixed to the Speyer Protest. It was a protest of fourteen cities of the Roman Empire and six princes. But already six months later, at a dispute in the city of Marburg, disagreements arose between Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, which led to a split in the Protestant camp into Lutheranism and Calvinism.
This will be followed by the death of Martin Luther and the Schmalkaldic War, in which the Lutherans will be defeated. They will receive legalization only in 1555 thanks to the Augsburg religious world. This agreement allowed representatives of the imperial estates to independently choose their religion and recognized Lutheranism as a religion in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire.
Features of the dogma
Answering the question of what Lutheranism is, one cannot but describe the foundations of the dogma, which, by the way, is very close to Catholicism. Lutheranism is based on the belief in the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the one power of one God.
At the heart of philosophical doctrine lies the equality of all before God. Clergy in Lutheranism do not have any privileges, including when taking the sacrament.
Sacraments of the Lutheran movement:
- Baptism.
- Communion.
- Confession.
Baptism is a sacrament that brings a person to Christianity, communion connects a person and God, and confession helps in the remission of sins.
There is no strict observance of funerals, weddings and chrismations in Lutheran churches. A clergyman in Lutheranism is just a profession, and nothing more. She does not go beyond and does not promote the priest in rank in front of the parishioners. The highest church service - the liturgy - is accompanied by hymns.
Features of Lutheranism
The principles of Lutheranism are based on the Book of Concord written in 1580. Total number of Lutheransaround the world today is approximately equal to 85 million people. This relatively small number is divided internally into several different denominations and churches. The main feature of Lutheranism is the lack of a single church and integrity.
Difficulties on the way to the formation of a single church were marked by geographical reasons, dogmatic and historical.
According to the Book of Concord, Lutheranism recognizes three creeds:
- Nicene.
- Afanasievsky.
- Apostolic.
However, not all Lutherans recognize the Book of Concord as a unified theory. Today, liberal movements in Lutheranism are quite common, which allow you not to attend services.
Church of Sweden
The largest Lutheran church is the Church of Sweden, whose parishioners are more than 60% of the country's population. In terms of numbers, it is almost 6.5 million people. Few of them attend worship services regularly, but consider themselves to be the successors of this particular religion.
The Lutheran Church of Sweden is considered liberal because it is united in the Lutheran World Federation. Women's priesthood is allowed here, including from among sexual minorities, and since 2005 the church has been registering homosexual couples, in connection with which a completely new rite was even invented.
The split in Protestantism and its consequences
When discussing the question of what Lutheranism is, it is impossible not to touch on the history of Calvinism. Essentially bothdirections stem from the reformist current of Martin Luther, but Calvinism identified itself for the first time at the dispute in the city of Marburg, which was mentioned above. This dispute split the Protestant reformers into two camps - German Protestants and Swiss Protestants.
Despite the fact that Calvinism got its name from John Calvin, the split was allowed through the efforts of Ulrich Zwingli, who had a dispute with Martin Luther himself. The dispute was over the formality of the rite of communion, on which Zwingli insisted, which was one of the main ideas of the reforms of Catholicism. Luther insisted on keeping the sacrament as the main sacrament.
After the death of Zwingli, his work was continued by the French theologian John Calvin. Calvin is considered a true reformer, from whom the true course - Calvinism - went. The differences between Lutheranism and Calvinism are significant enough, if you look at these directions today, after the lapse of centuries. Earlier, when the founders were driven by the ideas of reformism, the differences seemed even more serious.
Comparison of two directions
Initially, Calvinism was born as a cleansing of the church from everything that it does not need according to the Bible. He envisioned more serious church reforms. Compare Lutheranism and Calvinism. The table below will provide more detail on this issue.
| Distinguishing feature | Lutheranism | Calvinism |
| Church reform principle | Remove everything from the church thatcontrary to the Bible. | Remove from the church everything that is not necessary according to the Bible. |
| Holy Book | Bible and Book of Concord | Bible Only |
| Priesthood | Officially only one of the worldly professions. | Rejected as a sacrament in the same way as in Lutheranism. A priest is only a person who performs the duties of a profession. |
| Ritualism | Some rituals are allowed, including icons, but their worship is not allowed. The church building is modest, but some images of saints are acceptable. | Not allowed, no chants, any images on the walls, even entertainment was prohibited at the state level. Of the images in the church, only the cross is allowed. |
| Monasticism | Previously present, today officially not. | Rejected. |
| Total parishioners | 85 million people | 50 million people |
| Sacraments | The main ordinances are baptism and the sacrament. | Sacraments are rejected and have no meaning in dogma, even symbolic. |
| Salvation concept | Not fully revealed, but implied salvation by faith. | Salvation was rejected, it was believed that the fall makes a person internally evil against his will. |
| Spread of religion | Scandinavian countries, Germany, Latvia, Estonia. | Switzerland, Netherlands, England, USA. |
| Church andstate originally | Luther insisted on the separation of church and state and freedom of religion. | Calvin was a supporter of the merging of the state and the church, which was carried out during his lifetime. The church was even involved in monitoring residents in their homes and families. |
The similarities between Lutheranism and Calvinism lie in the fact that these movements were originally reformist and originated from Protestantism.
Main similarities of currents
Lutheranism and Calvinism, in fact, pursued a single goal - the reform of the church. Unlike Martin Luther, John Calvin went much further in his reforms. Among the similarities, one can note a significant rejection of the sacrament of the priesthood, as well as significant steps in the rejection of ritualism, although Calvinism has a more rigid direction in this regard.
Historical contradictions, geographic background and other reasons put quite a lot of pressure on both directions, and therefore religion itself, whether it be Calvinism or Lutheranism, has not reached our days as a single trend and church. Calvinists are split into three camps:
- Presbyterianism.
- Congregationalism.
- Reformism, which originally arose and survived in Europe today as a true trend.
The similarities between Lutheranism and Calvinism are limited to this.
Differences between the two currents
Based on what Lutheranism is, Martin Luther himself could not fully define the importance and essence of the sacred sacraments and the doctrine ofsalvation.
As it developed, Calvinism became the result of more rigorous reforms than Lutheranism. The church in Switzerland was completely cleansed of works of art, monasticism was strictly rejected, while in Lutheranism it was preserved for a long time. In Calvinism, initially the attitude towards mysticism and something unknown was negative. Burning at the stake was practiced. The comparison between Lutheranism and Calvinism today has a different character.
On Lutheranism and Calvinism today
Lutheranism today is one of the most liberal religious movements, where there is no monasticism, but there is an ordination of females. The confessional direction of Lutheranism to this day is arguing about the attitude to this issue, as well as to the issue of same-sex marriage, but all disputes with the liberal trend are limited to just conversations.
Calvinism today has remained a fairly strict religion. True believers do not honor any holidays except Sunday, they pray in simple churches and even on the street. Many condemn Calvinism for being too simple.
Instead of a conclusion
Dealing with the question of what Lutheranism is and how it differs from Calvinism, you suddenly understand how, over the centuries, minor disagreements between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli gave the world two completely different branches of Christianity in their direction.
Over time, they were somewhat modified, but on the whole they retained theirprimitive.
