in Helsinki, juxtaposed with a
chancel lamp and note about the
real presence Augsburg Confession as a Catholic document The
Augsburg Confession found within the
Book of Concord, a compendium of belief of the
Lutheran churches, teaches that "the faith as confessed by
Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true catholic faith, and that their churches represent the true catholic or universal church". When the Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1530, they believed it "showed that each article of faith and practice was true first of all to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the
church fathers and the councils". In Lutheranism, the term
Evangelical Catholic or
Augsburg Catholic has a specific meaning. Lutheran Protestantism differs historically from most other kinds of Protestantism in that Lutheranism is the only historical Protestant
denomination that confesses belief in three
sacraments:
regeneration in Holy
Baptism,
Confession as the sacrament of
Absolution, and the
Real Presence of Christ in
Holy Eucharist. In Anglicanism and Methodism, two other Protestant traditions, there has also been a sacramentalism similar to that in orthodox Lutheranism, especially in the
high church movement. The Book of Concord states, contrary to "
Enthusiast" belief, that salvation can be received only through the
means of grace: God's Word and sacraments. The Augsburg Confession stresses that "in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Catholic Church." continued as a Lutheran monastery since the 16th century A.D. Evangelical Catholics of Lutheran churchmanship cherish the practice of
Christian monasticism; after the Reformation, many monasteries and convents adopted the Lutheran faith and continued
religious life, including lay
oblates. Examples include monasteries such as
Amelungsborn Abbey near
Negenborn and
Loccum Abbey in
Rehburg-Loccum, as well as convents such as
Ebstorf Abbey near the town of
Uelzen and
Bursfelde Abbey in
Bursfelde. New religious orders were established by Lutherans throughout the centuries such as
Östanbäck Monastery, a Benedictine community in
Sala, Sweden and Saint Augustine's House, a monastery in
Michigan. Mother
Basilea Schlink established the charismatic
Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in
Darmstadt, which contains the motherhouse where the Lutheran
nuns reside. The
Order of Lutheran Franciscans is a religious institute affiliated with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Sacred art in Lutheranism in
Poland, part of the
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland Lutherans had different views regarding religious imagery than Reformed Christians. Lutherans proudly employed the use of the
crucifix as it highlighted their high view of the
theology of the Cross. Stories grew up of "indestructible" images of Luther that had survived fires by divine intervention. Thus, for Lutherans, "the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image." As such, "Lutheran places of worship contain images and sculptures not only of Christ but also of biblical and occasionally of other saints as well as prominent decorated pulpits due to the importance of preaching, stained glass, ornate furniture, magnificent examples of traditional and modern architecture, carved or otherwise embellished altar pieces, and liberal use of candles on the altar and elsewhere." Lutherans strongly defended their existing sacred art from a new wave of Reformed-on-Lutheran iconoclasm in the second half of the century, as Reformed rulers or city authorities attempted to impose their will on Lutheran populations in the "
Second Reformation" of about 1560-1619. Against the Reformed, Lutherans exclaimed: "You black Calvinist, you give permission to smash our pictures and hack our crosses; we are going to smash you and your Calvinist priests in return". This campaign of Reformed iconoclasm "provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs" in Germany and "antagonized the neighbouring Eastern Orthodox" in the Baltic region.
Lutheran devotions , Strasbourg
Lutheran Mariology is informed by the Augsburg Confession and honours Mary as "the most blessed Mother of God, the most blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ," and "the Queen of Heaven." The
Smalcald Articles, a
confession of faith of the Lutheran churches, affirm the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Lutherans of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship tend to stress a continuity with these pre-Reformational beliefs that have been upheld by many Lutherans theologians since
Martin Luther himself. As a sign of reverence for and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martin Luther advocated the use of the original version of the
Hail Mary prayer before it was modified at the Roman Catholic Church's
Council of Trent (that is, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.") The 1522
Betbüchlein (Prayer Book) retained the Ave Maria. The
Wreath of Christ, also known as the Pearls of Life, is a set of
prayer beads developed by the Swedish Evangelic-Lutheran bishop
Martin Lönnebo. They are a devotion used by communicants in the Lutheran churches. Many Lutheran women of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship wear a
veil during prayer and worship. The General Rubrics of the
Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, as contained in "The Lutheran Liturgy", state in a section titled
Headgear for Women: "It is laudable custom, based upon a Scriptural injunction (1 Cor. 11:3-15), for women to wear an appropriate head covering in Church, especially at the time of divine service."
Episcopal polity and apostolic succession is ordained as archbishop of the Church of Sweden, 1914. Traditions, such as
episcopal polity and
apostolic succession are also maintained and seen as essential by Lutherans of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship; the
Church of Sweden for example teaches that "Since this ordinance was very useful and without doubt proceeded from the Holy Ghost, it was generally approved and accepted over the whole of Christendom. . . . It belongs to the office of the Bishop that he in his diocese shall ordain and govern with Priests, and do whatsoever else is required." The
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Church of Sweden continue the apostolic succession of bishops who ordain priests through the
laying on of hands. Such a view sees the congregational form of church governance as non-Lutheran and not reflective of Lutheranism's identity as a catholic Church; the
Evangelical Catholic Church, a Lutheran denomination based in North America, taught:
Evangelical Catholicism in the Lutheran churches rack stands before an icon of
Christ Pantocrator in a Lutheran parish church of the
Church of Sweden in Skellefteå. In the 19th century, "Evangelical Catholicism" was seen as a vision for the Church of the future. The term was used by Lutherans such as
Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach and
Heinrich Leo within the post-
Prussian Union church in Germany who were inspired by the church of the Middle Ages, and by
neo-Lutheran Friedrich Julius Stahl. The term
Evangelical Catholic is often used today instead of the term "
High Church Lutheranism" because it is a theological term. It is comparable to the term "
Anglo-Catholic" within Anglicanism. Evangelical Catholic Lutheranism is inclusive of the theologically, biblically, and socially conservative ultra-high church Lutheranism of those within the
Confessional Lutheran movement who follow the late
Arthur Carl Piepkorn, the
Evangelical Catholic Orthodoxy of
Gunnar Rosendal, the more theologically moderate high
ecclesiology of
Carl Braaten, the very liberal
Evangelical Catholicity of
Nathan Söderblom, or even the more liberal Catholicism of
Friedrich Heiler, and the ecumenical vision of
Hans Asmussen and
Max Lackmann, as well as the strongly Roman Catholic-oriented
Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church and the more
Eastern Orthodox-oriented
Evangelical Catholic Church. In Scandinavia, where High Church Lutheranism and
Pietist Lutheranism has been highly influential, the
Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland,
Mission Province of the Church of Sweden, and the
Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway entered into schism with their
national churches due to "the secularization of the national/state churches in their respective countries involving matters of both Christian doctrine and ethics”; these dioceses are in
altar and pulpit fellowship with one another through the
Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses and are members of the confessional
International Lutheran Council with their bishops having secured their lines of
apostolic succession from other traditional Lutheran churches, such as the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada defines its doctrinal basis as such: "We derive our teachings from the Holy Scriptures and confess the three ecumenical creeds of the Christian church. We hold to orthodox catholic theology as enunciated in the ecumenical councils of the first five centuries of Christianity." Some small "Evangelical Catholic" church bodies include the
Evangelical Catholic Church,
Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church,
Lutheran Church - International, and the
Lutheran Episcopal Communion. The
Nordic Catholic Church in Norway has roots in High Church Lutheranism. However, most Evangelical Catholic Lutheran clergy and Evangelical Lutheran parishes are part of mainstream Lutheran denominations such as the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the
Evangelical Church in Germany, and the
Church of Sweden. Various Roman Catholic leaders and theologians, such as
Cardinal Kurt Koch have proposed the idea of Lutheran Ordinariates within the Catholic Church, which would allow Lutherans to join the Catholic Church and retain aspects of their liturgy and traditions. Lutherans of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship, however, have opposed conversion to Roman Catholicism, arguing that the "riches of the catholic tradition are already ours, and at our best we embrace that heritage". ==Other Christian traditions==