served by Daniel Falckner, the older brother of Justus Falckner. In New York the leader of the immigrants was Joshua Kocherthal, a Lutheran minister from the Palatinate, arriving on New Year's day 1701. The Palatinate had been ravaged with fire and sword under Louis XIV of France, the inhabitants were obliged to flee in order to save their lives and many of these fugitives found a temporary refuge in England, where Queen Anne arranged for their emigration to America. In 1710 not less than 11 ships came to New York carrying some 3,000 immigrants. They settled in the Catskill Hills on the banks of the Hudson; later on many of them went westward and moved into the Schoharie Valley. All were served by the indefatigable and faithful Kocherthal. In 1734 the Lutheran Salzburgers, driven from their homes in Austria through persecution, settled in Georgia not far from Savannah. Their settlement was named Ebenezer, and their pastors were Bolzius and Gronau. Gradually groups of German Lutherans were found along the whole Atlantic Coast. In Pennsylvania alone some 60,000 Lutherans were settled about the year 1750, for whose spiritual wants there was, at first, no adequate provision. Several of these Pennsylvania congregations joined in sending a delegation to London (Court-chaplain Ziegenhagen), and to Halle in Germany (Prof. A. H. Francke), representing the needs of the immigrants and asking for able clergymen. These negotiations finally resulted in the coming to America of Henry Melchior Muehlenberg, the pious and indefatigable so-called "patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America." He arrived in 1742, served the congregations that had called him, organized new congregations far and wide, built churches (Saint Michael's, Philadelphia) and in every possible way was active for the Church. He was followed by a number of educated and faithful men from Germany (Kurtz, Kunze and others), and thus an era of great activity began among the scattered Lutheran churches, their number being continually increased through the coming of more immigrants, and the Lutheran Church attaining considerable influence. Synodical Organizations.- One of the most important things done by Muehlenberg was the founding of the first Lutheran synod in America, the still existing "Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and adjacent States." It took place 26 Aug. 1748, and German and Swedish pastors participated in the organization. Before Muehlenberg's death (1787) the second Lutheran synod was organized through the efforts of his son, Rev. F. A. C. Muehlenberg, and his son-in-law, Rev. J. C. Kunze (1786), and in the following decades other bodies were formed: the North Carolina Synod (the mother of all the southern synods), in 1803; the synod of Ohio in 1818; the Tennessee Synod in 1820. Throughout the 19th century such synodical organization took place, partly in consequence of branching off from the older synods, sometimes also in opposition to them, but chiefly on account of the rapid and remarkable expansion of the Church through the coming of immigrants from Europe, especially to the Western States. The entire number of synods now in existence is 62. The internal condition of the Church, however, In in the closing years of the 18th and in the first decades of the 19th century, was not a good one. The ravages of two wars left their marks; the problem of transition from German to English worship was not always solved in the right way; but above all the rationalistic and unionistic tendencies in the European churches bore their fruits also in America and left the Lutheran Church in a deplorable state of desolation. The founding of the Missouri Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States) in Chicago, 26 April 1847, had a most significant influence on the external and internal development of the Lutheran Church in the United States. 1839 a colony of Saxon Lutherans numbering about 700 souls had come to America, having left their native land on account of the bad condition of their home church, showing itself in the opposition to the Lutheran Confessions and the prevalence of rationalism, and had settled in Saint Louis and in Perry County, Mo. Their leader was Martin Stephen and with him came a number of earnest and devout pastors and candidates. When their leader was found to be a deceiver he was excommunicated, and C. F. W. Walther, one of those younger pastors, a man of remarkable ability as theologian, preacher, author and church organizer, came to the front. In 1844 he began to edit the semimonthly church paper Der Lutheraner, which rapidly became the organ for confessional Lutheranism. About the same time Pastor F. Wyneken had come to America and had spent some years in serving the scattered Lutherans in Indiana and Michigan. Not being able to take care of the great number of them he returned to Germany and interested the home churches in the work. Especially Pastor W. Loche of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, took a very active part in preparing an sending ministers to America; and these three parties, the Saxon immigrants (Walther, Loeber, Keyl,. Fuerbringer and others), the Loehian pastors (Sihler, Craemer and others) and Wyneken, combined and organized the Missouri Synod, which has ever stood for strict confessionalism through its testimony has had decided influence for good upon the whole Lutheran Church, also in foreign countries, although it severed all connection with the German state churches and upholds and emphasizes the principle of absolute separation of church and state. Through the untiring labors of its pastors in home mission work, and through the attention given to the training of the young in parish schools, it has become by far the largest Lutheran synod in America, consisting at present of 23 district synods and extending over practically every State of the Union, to Canada and even to Brazil and Argentina. About the same time (1839) another band of German Lutherans had left Prussia on account of the Prussian Church Union between the Lutheran and Reformed churches (1817) and under the leadership of J. A. Grabau organized the Buffalo Synod in 1845. Some years later (1854) the Iowa Synod was founded, also by German missionaries sent by Loehe, after the Missourians and Loehe had parted on account of doctrinal differences. Finally, the Scandinavian Lutherans must be mentioned. Even before the middle of the 19th century a tide of and Scandinavian immigration had set in, leading in the course of time to synodical organization. The most prominent was the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod of North America, founded in 1853 by H. A. Preus, J. A. Ottesen and others. A controversy on the doctrine of predestination led to a separation and to the forming of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, in 1890. Prior to this the Norwegian Hauge Synod had been organized through the influence of E. Eielsen, originally a lay preacher and adherent of Hauge, a theologian of pietistic tendency. The largest Swedish Lutheran body, the Augustana Synod, was founded in 1860. Besides these, the Danes, Finns and Icelanders have their own synods. The Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Confession Synod, organized in 1902, is in sympathy with the Missouri Synod. General Bodies.- Most of the 62 Lutheran synods in the United States are combined in larger "general organizations." The oldest of these is the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States of America, formed in 1820 through the efforts of the Pennsylvania ministerium, at that_time_the largest Lutheran synod in America. The General Synod aimed at a union of all Lutherans, but, when the Pennsylvania Synod withdrew in 1823, it comprised for some years only a number of smaller English synods. Gradually it grew, the Pennsylvania Synod again united with it and in 1860 it embraced 26 synods. However, during the Civil War the synods south of the Potomac withdrew, and in 1866 the Pennsylvania Synod again severed its connection on account of the liberal and unionistic standpoint of the general body. The General Synod had formally declared that it stood on common ground with the Union Church of Germany and did not consider the distinctive doctrines separating the Lutheran and Reformed churches essential. It was more intent on fraternal relations with other denominations than on union with Lutherans of strict confessional principles. (S. S. Schmucker and the "Definite Platform"). The withdrawal of the Pennsylvania Synod soon led to the organization of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America in Fort Wayne, Ind., 20 Nov. 1867, under the leadership of C. P. Krauth, C. F. Schaeffer, G. F. Krotel, W. J. Mann and others. The confessional basis was stated to be the doctrines of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession in its original sense. A number of Lutheran synods, English and German, joined this General Council, also the Swedish Augustana Synod, not, however, the Missouri Synod, nor the Ohio Synod, because the General Council, though more confessional than the General Synod, did not take a definite standpoint on the so-called "four points": chiliasm, altar and pulpit fellowship, and secret societies. The Iowa Synod maintained friendly attitude toward the General Council, but did not join it. In 1872 the Evangelical Synodical Conference of North America was formed by the Missouri Synod, the Ohio Synod, the Wisconsin Synod (founded in 1849 by Muehlhaeuser and others, joined the General Council, but withdrew in 1869), the Minnesota Synod (founded in 1860, joined the General Council, but withdrew in 1871), the Illinois a Synod and the Norwegian Synod. It was founded on a strict confessional basis as laid down in the Lutheran Confessions, and became at once the largest general organization in America; and although the Ohio Synod left this general body in 1881 on account of a controversy over the doctrines of election and conversion, and also the Norwegian Synod severed its connection in 1883 on account of internal troubles, the Synodical Conference is still the largest general body. In 1886 the Southern synods which had withdrawn from the General Synod at the time of the Civil War formed a new general body, The United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South, comprising eight smaller synods. The jubilee year of the Lutheran Reformation (1917) developed two important combinations. The three Norwegian synods mentioned above joined and formed the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America; and the General Synod, now more confessional than formerly, the General Council, and the United Synod in the South took action and formed a union called The United Lutheran Church in America, which action was formally ratified 15 Nov. 1918. The synods of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, which had formed what may be called a general organization in 1892, have rearranged their organization into a general body consisting of six district synods, but retaining their membership in the Synodical Conference. Church Polity.-According to Lutheran principles the congregation is the unit of church organization, the source of all authority exercised by the Church and the final court of appeal. Congregations combine and organize themselves into synods for conducting the Church work on a larger scale and for the sake of mutual assistance and oversight; but the synods have no power except that which the congregations confer upon them; they are purely advisory bodies. It must be said, however, that while these principles are conceded by most Lutheran organizations, not all bodies conform to them in practice, some of them outside of the Synodical Conference allowing synods a greater power and placing greater weight upon their decisions. Church Worship.- Because the Lutheran churches in Europe always had great diversity in their forms of public worship the Lutheran Church of America shows no uniformity in this respect, the different bodies having at first followed the usages of their mother churches to a greater or less degree. However, a greater uniformity has been brought about since the so-called "Common Service," based upon the consensus of the Lutheran liturgies of the 16th century, was prepared by a committee representing the General Synod, the General Council, and the United Synod in the South. This form of service is used also by a number of congregations in other Lutheran bodies, especially after they had introduced the English language in their services. Church Work.-All the church bodies named are very active in various forms of educational, missionary and benevolent work. They maintain a high standard of ministerial education and have founded a large number of theological seminaries. They have their own colleges and academies preparing their men for the theological courses and giving a general General Statistics.-The Lutheran Church Bibliography. Of the large literature only a small selection is given. The sources are, as a rule, mentioned in the general works. Histories of the Lutheran Church in America: Græbner, A. L., History of the Lutherans in America (German, Vol. I, up to 1820; Saint Louis 1892); Hazelius, E. L., History of the American Lutheran Church 1685-1842) (Zanesville 1846); Jacobs, H. E., History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States (Vol. IV of the American Church Series, New York 1893; trans. into German by Fritschel, G. J., with additions, Guetersloh 1896); Neve, J. L., Brief History of the Lutheran Church in America' (Burlington 1916; German ed., Burlington 1915). Histories of Individual Bodies: Bergh, J. A., The Norwegian Lutheran Church in North America' (Norwegian; Minneapolis 1914); Bernheim, G. D., 'History of the German Settlements and of the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina) (Philadelphia 1872); Deindoerfer, J. D., History of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and other States' (German; Chicago 1897): Finck, W. J., Lutheran Landmarks and Pioneers in America' (Philadelphia 1913); Henkel, S., History of the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod' (New Market 1890); Hochstetter, C., History of the Evangelical Lutheran Missouri Synod (German; Dresden 1883); Nicum, J., History of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of New York and Adjacent States' (German; New York 1888); Ochsenford, S. E., Documentary History of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America' (Philadelphia 1912); Peter, P. A., and Schmidt, W., 'History of the Joint Synod of Ohio and other States (Columbus 1900); Schmauk, T. E., 'History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania 1638-1820' (Philadelphia 1903); Spaeth, A., Jacobs, H. E., and Spieker, G. F., 'Documentary History of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States 1748-1821 (Philadelphia 1893). Biographies: Guenther, M., Walther, C. F. W., A Biography) (German; Saint Louis 1890); Mann, W. J., Life and Times of H. M. Muehlenberg (Philadelphia 1877); Spaeth, A., Charles Porterfield Krauth' (2 vols., New York 1898; Philadelphia 1909). General: Bente, F., 'What hinders the Union of the Lutheran Synods in America?> (German; Saint Louis 1917); Jacobs, H. E., and Haas, J. A. W., Lutheran Cyclopedia' (New York 1899); Lenker, J. N., 'Lutherans in All Lands (Milwaukee 1894; German ed., Sunbury 1901); Morris, J. G., Bibliotheca Lutherana' (Philadelphia 1876); The Distinctive Doctrines and Usages of the General Bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States) (Philadelphia 1893; new ed., 1914). See LUTHERANISM. LUDWIG E. FUERBRINGER, Professor of Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Saint Louis, Mo. LUTHERANISM. The first of the 95 theses which Martin Luther affixed to the door of the castle-church of Wittenberg on 31 Oct. 1517, read as follows: "Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, saying, Repent ye, would have the whole life of believers to be repentance." This academic act has been generally looked upon as the inaugural act of the Lutheran Reformation, so much so, that 31 October is to this day celebrated by Lutherans in all lands as the Festival of the Reformation. And the thesis quoted above is perhaps the most concise exhibition of Lutheranism extant. The thesis is, as a whole and in all its parts, a positive doctrinal statement. Doctrine, positive doctrine, is, and was from the beginning, of first importance, the groundwork, the very life, of Lutheranism. The first and foremost task of the Lutheran Church is the promulgation and maintenance of sound doctrine. Preaching, in the Lutheran Church, is not primarily exhortation but teaching, and doctrinal preaching is considered the chief element of Lutheran public worship. Even the better part of Lutheran hymnology is preponderatingly doctrinal. The great bulk of Luther's voluminous writings is doctrinal, and no other church has so extensive a doctrinal literature as the Lutheran Church. Even its controversial theology partakes of this character. It is true, the Lutheran Church in all its best periods was eminently an ecclesia militans (a militant church); but the subjects at issue were again doctrinal. Perhaps the most masterful polemical work in Lutheran, if not in all Protestant theology, Chemnitz' 'Criticism of the Decrees of the Council of Trent' (Examen Concilii Tridentini), is also one of the richest storehouses of doctrinal theology. He But doctrine is knowledge communicated. Teaching presupposes or implies a master and a disciple or a number of disciples. And of the Master Luther says in his thesis: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ." No councils nor synods, no traditions of the Church, no Fathers, early or late, not Luther himself, not any of these, nor all of these together, must be acknowledged as empowered to establish articles of doctrine which every disciple is bound_to accept. For the Master is also the LORD. comes with authority: His teaching is not human but divine. Christian doctrine is not a product of evolution, nor of human speculation, nor of self-consciousness of the Church, but the truth of God set forth by the Fountain of divine truth, who has said, "I am the Truth." He is the one and only authoritative teacher in the Church. There is no such thing as an evolution or perfectibility of Christian doctrine. Here the ancient avroÇ ÈÓN "He hath said it," is in its place. Here man has no alternative but either to accept or to reject. Here to add or to modify is to adulterate, and to take away or to yield is to deny. Such is the Lutheran concept of the primary source of Christian doctrine. But the means also whereby such communication of divine knowledge to man is effected is indicated in Luther's thesis when he says: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, saying, Repent ye." Here he refers to an express dictum of Holy Scripture. Christ and the Spirit of Christ taught man in the 16th century and teaches man in the 20th century in and through the written Word. Not by awaiting direct revelations, not by following the traditions of the Church or the definitions or decrees of its representatives, are we disciples of Christ, but by searching the Scriptures which were written aforetime for our learning. What is clearly taught in Scripture, that and that only is Chris tian doctrine. That the Bible is the only and sufficient source of Christian doctrine is the formal principle of Lutheranism. The material principle of Lutheranism, the cardinal doctrine, around which all other doctrines radiate, because it is the central doctrine of Scripture, is also indicated in the thesis. Luther there describes the subjects and disciples of their Lord and Master Christ as believers. According to the Lutheran concept of Christianity and the Christian Church it is faith that constitutes a Christian and a member of the Church of Christ, which is simply the whole number of all believers. Christianity, as distinguished from all other religions, is that religion according to which salvation is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by what God has done in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. And faith is simply the acceptance of this reconciliation. Not as a work of obedience, with any merit of its own, but only as the acceptance of the merits of Christ, faith is saving faith. It is justifying faith inasmuch as, in view and consideration of the merits of Christ accepted by faith, God in His judgment pronounces the believer righteous. And this doctrine, that God justifies the sinner by His grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, is the material principle of Lutheranism, the cardinal doctrine of Lutheran theology. This doctrine is looked upon by the Lutheran Church as doctrina stantis et cadentis ecclesiæ, the doctrine with which the Church stands and falls. On the other hand, the doctrine of justification, while the central and ruling doctrine, is not the only doctrine of Lutheranism. According to our thesis, Christ would have the whole life of believers to be repentance. This, too, is a doctrinal statement. Repentance, μετάνοια, is a change of heart and mind in man. In his natural fallen state man is wholly evil, spiritually dead in sin, unable to will or to do that which is spiritually good. He cannot, therefore, work his own restoration, nor contribute thereto. But God, prompted by His universal grace, and because of the merits of Christ, the redeemer of all mankind, through the gospel, the ever efficacious and ever irresistible means of grace, quickens the sinner into spiritual life, translating him, by the bestowal of faith, from a state of wrath and enmity against God into a state of grace and communion with God. This is the Lutheran doctrine of conversion or regeneration in the stricter sense of the terms. In a wider sense, in which repentance also stands in our thesis, it includes the preservation and growth of spiritual life and its activity in works of the spirit, or sanctification. For while the Lutheran Church maintains that man's salvation is in no sense, manner or measure, his own work, but wholly and solely the work of God, and hence denies the necessity of good works unto salvation, it strenuously asserts that good works are necessary fruits and evidence of faith. There have been Syncretists (Unionists) within the pale of the Lutheran Church, who held that the real obstacles to mutual recognition between the Lutheran Church and others were only two- the doctrines of predestination and of the Lord's Supper. But by these assertions Syncretism exhibits itself as thoroughly un-Lutheran in letter and spirit. These differences are in deed, while they stand, insurmountable barriers between the conflicting theologies. But the chasm which separates them is far deeper and wider, a difference of the very fundamental principles which affects a multitude of particular doctrines. The formal principle of Lutheranism is, as we have seen, that of the exclusive authority and absolute sufficiency of the canonical Scriptures in matters of faith. The material principle of Lutheranism is the scriptural doctrine of justification. Lutheranism holds that Christ, the only head and foundation of the Church, vested all the rights and powers of the Church, the keys of heaven, the power of remitting and retaining sins in His name as His agent, the government and discipline of the Church, in the local congregation of believers. Lutheranism maintains that Christ, the only mediator between God and man, has instituted an office in the Church, the ministry of the word, for the public administration of the means of grace, that this office is conferred on its incumbent by Christ's authority through the call of the congregation, and has no power but the power of the word as set forth in the Scriptures, all ministers being equal in rank among themselves. Lutheranism looks upon the Lord's Supper as a means of grace, whereby Christ, by virtue of His words of institution pronounced in the night in which He was betrayed, gives to all communicants His body and blood, really present, not by transubstantiation or the change into another substance, nor by consubstantiation or the formation of a new substance, but by sacramental union, to be eaten and drunk in, with and under the consecrated bread and wine, for an assurance of the forgiveness of our sins, procured by His sacrifice on Calvary. Lutheranism also holds and teaches a doctrine of predestination, not, however, a decree of damnation, but only an election and predestination of the children of God to eternal salvation by faith in Christ Jesus, who is the redeemer not only of the elect, but of all mankind, and by whom the decree of election is determined as by its meritorious cause, and not as an accessory means of execution. Thus, likewise, the gospel and the sacraments, according to the Lutheran concept, are the ordained means, whereby the same universal grace, according to which God earnestly desires the salvation of all men, and, by the power of His Spirit in all cases efficaciously, but in no case irresistibly, exerted through such means of grace, calls, converts or regenerates, sanctifies and preserves to eternal life all those who do not wilfully and obstinately resist the saving grace of God. Having thus briefly portrayed the nature and principles of Lutheranism, we proceed to a summary sketch of its rise and progress and its spread in the era of the Reformation. The cradle of Lutheranism was Saxony in Germany. Here, at Wittenberg, the great Reformer taught and preached and wrote under the protection of the Elector Frederick the Wise, and hand in hand with his successors John and John Frederick. The effects of his 95 theses far exceeded the expectations of their author. When Luther published this manifesto, he had no thought of the establishment of a new church. The very name of Lutherans was not adopted by the free choice of those who bore it, but was solemnly inflicted upon them |