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Summary
- Lutherans are Protestants, the first ones: the name was given to the reforming princes and cities, among them Elector John of Saxony, who protested at the Diet of Speyer in April 1529.
- Protestantism is the family, and Lutheranism, the Reformed churches and the Church of England are its three sixteenth-century branches.
- Lutherans read “this is my body” (Matthew 26:26) plainly: the Augsburg Confession (1530) teaches that Christ’s body and blood “are truly present” in the Supper, while Reformed, Anglican and Methodist confessions teach a spiritual receiving of Christ and the Southern Baptist Faith and Message calls it “a symbolic act of obedience.”
- Lutherans baptize infants, and Luther’s Small Catechism says baptism “works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this.”
- Luther sent his ninety-five theses to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz on 31 October 1517; whether he also posted them on the church door is uncertain.
- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) ordains women and welcomes all baptized visitors to Communion; the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod do not ordain women and ordinarily commune only members of churches in fellowship with them.
- The Leuenberg Agreement (1973) joined Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe, and the ELCA has been in full communion with Reformed churches since 1997, the Episcopal Church since 1999 and the United Methodist Church since 2009.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version: Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:24; Romans 3:28; Titus 3:5; Mark 16:16. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A26%3B1+Corinthians+10%3A16%3B1+Corinthians+11%3A24%3BRomans+3%3A28%3BTitus+3%3A5%3BMark+16%3A16&version=KJV
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Articles I, IV, IX, X and XXIV and the signatures. Book of Concord, BookOfConcord.org. https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/
- Martin Luther. Small Catechism (1529): The Sacrament of Holy Baptism; The Sacrament of the Altar. BookOfConcord.org. https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-sacrament-of-holy-baptism/ ; https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-sacrament-of-the-altar/
- Formula of Concord (1577): Solid Declaration VII, The Holy Supper; Epitome XI, God’s Foreknowledge and Election. BookOfConcord.org. https://bookofconcord.org/solid-declaration/the-holy-supper/ ; https://bookofconcord.org/formula-of-concord-epitome/article-xi/
- The Marburg Articles (3 October 1529), and Ulrich Zwingli’s report of the Marburg Colloquy. German History in Documents and Images, German Historical Institute. https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/from-the-reformations-to-the-thirty-years-war-1500-1648/the-marburg-colloquy-the-marburg-articles-1529
- Philip Schaff. History of the Christian Church, vol. 7, §115, “The Second Diet of Speier, and the Protest of 1529.” Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc7/hcc7.ii.viii.iv.html
- Jennifer Woodruff Tait. “What’s in a name?” Christian History 115 (2015), bonus online content. Christian History Institute. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/whats-in-a-name
- Timothy J. Wengert. Introduction to Volume 1, The Annotated Luther, vol. 1: The Roots of Reform. Fortress Press, 2015. https://ms.augsburgfortress.org/downloads/9781451462692_volume_intro.pdf
- The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 3.3, 21.1, 28.1, 28.4, 29.7 and 31.1. Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- Church of England. Articles of Religion (the Thirty-nine Articles), Articles XI, XVII, XXVII and XXVIII. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- Church of England. “History of the Church of England.” https://www.churchofengland.org/about/history-church-england
- The United Methodist Church. The Articles of Religion, Articles VIII, IX, XVII and XVIII. https://www.umc.org/en/content/articles-of-religion ; “United Methodist Beliefs: Prevenient Grace.” https://www.umc.org/en/content/united-methodist-beliefs-prevenient-grace ; “Structure.” https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/structure
- Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church. “The Basic Pattern of Worship,” The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/book-of-worship/the-basic-pattern-of-worship
- Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (amended 2023), Articles IV, V, VI and VII. https://bfm.sbc.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BFM2000.pdf
- Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1677; adopted 1689), chapter 30. https://www.the1689confession.com/1689/chapter-30
- Confessional Baptist Association (formerly the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America). https://www.arbca.com/
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). “Presbyterian History.” https://pcusa.org/about-pcusa/who-we-are/history
- Baptist Union of Great Britain. “Baptist History” (timeline). https://baptist.org.uk/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=151602
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “History”; “Synods”; “About Worship”; “Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations” (full communion partners). https://www.elca.org/about-the-elca/who-we-are/history ; https://www.elca.org/about-the-elca/church-structure/synods ; https://www.elca.org/worship-with-us/about-worship ; https://www.elca.org/about-the-elca/who-we-are/beliefs/eir
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Summary of Congregational Statistics as of 31 December 2025. https://cdn.elca.org/cdn/wp-content/uploads/Summary_of_Congregational_Statistics_as_of_12-31-2025.pdf
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Use of the Means of Grace (1997), principles 37 and 49. https://cdn.elca.org/cdn/wp-content/uploads/The_Use_Of_The_Means_Of_Grace.pdf
- “A legacy of opportunity.” Living Lutheran, November 2020. https://www.livinglutheran.org/2020/11/a-legacy-of-opportunity/
- A Formula of Agreement (1997), between the ELCA, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ. https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/formula-of-agreement-1997.pdf
- The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. 2024 Annual Report: Rosters and Statistics. https://files.lcms.org/api/file/preview/annual-report-2024
- Matthew C. Harrison. “Close, closed, close[d] Communion: Three words, one meaning.” Reporter, LCMS, 2024. https://reporter.lcms.org/2024/close-closed-closed-communion-three-words-one-meaning/
- “Convention says women may hold all offices that do not involve pastoral functions.” Reporter, LCMS, 2004. https://reporter.lcms.org/2004/convention-says-women-may-hold-all-offices-that-do-not-involve-pastoral-functions/
- “International Lutheran Council welcomes 17 new church bodies into membership.” Reporter, LCMS, 2018. https://reporter.lcms.org/2018/international-lutheran-council-welcomes-17-new-church-bodies-into-membership/
- Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. “Why no women pastors?” and “Communion practice,” quoting This We Believe. https://wels.net/faq/why-no-women-pastors/ ; https://wels.net/faq/communion-practice/
- The Lutheran World Federation. “Who We Are.” https://lutheranworld.org/who-we-are
- Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). “Short History.” https://www.ekd.de/en/Short-history-267.htm
- Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (Leuenberg Agreement). https://www.leuenberg.eu/
- The Porvoo Communion. https://porvoocommunion.org/
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