Lutheranism Lutheranism is associated with the
theology of Martin Luther, with its official confessional writings found in the
Book of Concord. Lutheranism generally accepts the unaltered
Augsburg Confession (not the
variata) as a true witness to the
Gospel. Lutheran clergy tend not to subscribe to a doctrine of
Biblical inerrancy, but see validity in various
scholarly methods of analysis to help in understanding the Bible. This is in concord with most moderate Protestant bodies and in contrast to the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in the United States, which practices the
historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation. Like other Lutheran church bodies, the ELCT confesses two
sacraments: Communion (or the
Eucharist) and
Holy Baptism (including
infant baptism). Confession and absolution is often included as a sacrament; however, as it is a return to the forgiveness given in baptism, strictly speaking, there are only two sacraments. With respect to the eucharist or communion, the ELCT holds to the Lutheran doctrine of the
sacramental union, that is, that Christ's body and blood is truly present "in, with and under" the
bread and wine, so that all communicants
orally receive not only bread and wine, but also the same body and blood of Christ that was given for them on the cross. Members of other denominations sometimes refer to this as a belief in
consubstantiation. Lutherans, however,
reject the philosophical explanation of consubstantiation, preferring to consider the presence of the Lord's body and blood as mysterious rather than explainable by human philosophy. The Lutheran belief in the holy mystery character of the consecrated bread and wine is more similar to that of
Roman Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox belief than to the views of most Protestants. In contrast, most Protestant church bodies doubt or openly deny that the actual body and blood of Christ is eaten in the Lord's Supper. == Relations with other churches ==