Where did the Lutheran Church come from?
June 26, 2025
Where did the Lutheran Church come from?
Our identity as a Lutheran congregation is found in the name of our church- Christ Community Lutheran Church. But what does it mean to be “Lutheran? Where does the Lutheran church come from? There is a lot to that answer but we will try to keep it simple.
For more than a 1000 years following the death of Christ, the church that we today know as the Roman Catholic Church was the predominant Christian church in the modern world. It grew in strength and power with the backing of the Holy Roman Empire and spread across the Western world. As time passed, like the Jews prior to Jesus, the church began to build up rules and expectations that placed increasing burdens on the faithful. The leadership of the church was often given as a political favor or as a way to raise money and was frequently seen as corrupt and disconnected.
By the early 1500’s things had reached a boiling point. Martin Luther, a young German monk had entered the church after making a bargain with God. God spared his life and Luther became a monk. As he learned and studied, Luther became increasingly dissatisfied with the state of the church and it’s portrayal of God, as one who stands in judgement ready to destroy hapless sinners. Martin Luther set out to discover the loving God of the New Testament and along the way to correct what he saw as errors in church doctrine. His was not the first attempt at reform, but due to the political situation that Rome faced from the East he was allowed periods of time where the church was too distracted to squash his attempts at change. Coupled with the invention of the printing press, Luther was able to mass distribute his writings to the common people.
Luther is most famous for the nailing of the 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Often portrayed as an act of defiance, this was really the practice of the time used to begin discourse and discussion. These theses took issue with the Catholic practice of selling indulgences which allowed people to buy their way out of purgatory, the interim place between earth and heaven where people suffered for their sins. Though he never intended to begin a new church, Luther’s reformation began a tradition that provided the foundation for all non-Catholic (called Protestant) churches today.
Next post- What is a Lutheran?
Where did the Lutheran Church come from?
Our identity as a Lutheran congregation is found in the name of our church- Christ Community Lutheran Church. But what does it mean to be “Lutheran? Where does the Lutheran church come from? There is a lot to that answer but we will try to keep it simple.
For more than a 1000 years following the death of Christ, the church that we today know as the Roman Catholic Church was the predominant Christian church in the modern world. It grew in strength and power with the backing of the Holy Roman Empire and spread across the Western world. As time passed, like the Jews prior to Jesus, the church began to build up rules and expectations that placed increasing burdens on the faithful. The leadership of the church was often given as a political favor or as a way to raise money and was frequently seen as corrupt and disconnected.
By the early 1500’s things had reached a boiling point. Martin Luther, a young German monk had entered the church after making a bargain with God. God spared his life and Luther became a monk. As he learned and studied, Luther became increasingly dissatisfied with the state of the church and it’s portrayal of God, as one who stands in judgement ready to destroy hapless sinners. Martin Luther set out to discover the loving God of the New Testament and along the way to correct what he saw as errors in church doctrine. His was not the first attempt at reform, but due to the political situation that Rome faced from the East he was allowed periods of time where the church was too distracted to squash his attempts at change. Coupled with the invention of the printing press, Luther was able to mass distribute his writings to the common people.
Luther is most famous for the nailing of the 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Often portrayed as an act of defiance, this was really the practice of the time used to begin discourse and discussion. These theses took issue with the Catholic practice of selling indulgences which allowed people to buy their way out of purgatory, the interim place between earth and heaven where people suffered for their sins. Though he never intended to begin a new church, Luther’s reformation began a tradition that provided the foundation for all non-Catholic (called Protestant) churches today.
Next post- What is a Lutheran?
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