Lutherans

Lutherans are Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, as interpreted in the tradition of Martin Luther.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was raised in rural Eisleben, Germany, and trained to become a lawyer. After abandoning this career path, he entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, Germany. He then went on to become a professor of Bible in Wittenberg, Germany.

At Wittenberg, he began to question the official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which in turn started the Protestant Reformation. Originally a movement to reform and change the Catholic Church, it later became a movement of churches and countries breaking away and starting new denominations of Christianity. Martin Luther is considered by many to be one of the ten most influential people in the history of Western civilization.

Luther’s teaching that people are justified, made right in the eyes of God, as a free gift through faith, remains the central teaching of the Lutheran Church. We adhere also to the principle of sola scriptura – Latin for “only scripture” – which holds that all church teachings must be consistent with the witness of the Holy Bible.

Today, there are over 8 million Lutherans in America, as well as churches in northern Europe, Scandinavia, Papau New Guinea, Ethiopia and East Africa – among others.

To learn more about Lutheranism, visit our denomination’s web site, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

To learn more about Lutherans worldwide, visit the website of the Lutheran World Federation.

To learn more about the places Martin Luther lived, and the world of the Reformation, visit the web sites of some of Luther’s home towns in Germany, and some links to resources on Lutheran history and theology.

Project Wittenberg
Book of Concord
City of Eisleben
City of Erfurt
City of Wittenberg
Wartburg Castle
Luther Memorials Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt
Castle Church – Wittenberg, Germany