Church Word #6: Lutheran

Encore Post: “Why do you call yourself Lutheran? I prefer to call myself a Christian,” you will hear from time to time. In fact, Martin Luther agreed with them. Five Hundred years ago, he wrote:

I ask that my name be left silent and people not call themselves Lutheran, but rather Christians. Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been crucified for no one. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 3:4-5 would not suffer that the Christians should call themselves of Paul or of Peter, but Christian. How should I, a poor stinking bag of worms, become so that the children of Christ are named with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians whose doctrine we have.

Admonition Against Insurrection (1522)

In fact, the earliest Lutherans did not use the name for themselves — they preferred to be called “Evangelicals.” It was the reformer’s chief opponent, Johannes Eck, who coined the term “Lutheran” over five hundred years ago this month at the Leipzig Disputation. As you might expect, it was not a complement! Eck meant to imply that Lutherans were not catholic, but a heresy like the ancient Gnostics or Arians. In fact, Martin Luther and his allies spent the next few decades arguing the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith for Christ’s sake alone is the ancient teaching of the church from the very beginning.

So, how did Lutherans end up waving the white flag and embrace the name? Well, probably because just about every other name for them was adopted by others. The Reformed tradition also liked the words “Evangelical” and “Protestant.” So soon the two became easily confused. When the Kaiser of Prussia forced the two traditions to merge and called the resulting church “Evangelical,” Lutherans became insistent on using both: Evangelical Lutheran. There is also a sense of defiance when a group under fire adopts the term meant to deride them. It is how Americans and Yankees ended up called by those names.

These days, Lutherans use the term with pride for the doctrine it stands for. Lutherans believe, teach and confess those teachings spelled out in the Book of Concord, Especially that of the saving Gospel of salvation by grace through faith. It also is truth in advertising. It is just a wee bit deceptive, after all, to call yourself just the “X Community Church” or a bit arrogant to call yourself “The Christian Church.” So we stand with Luther, a sinner just like he was, beggars receiving salvation as a free gift of God’s love.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

To Blog Post Series | C. F. W. Walther, “Concerning the Name Lutheran”

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