It is a complicated question. What makes a Lutheran? Belief in grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone is often used to describe the essence of a Lutheran. These three “solas” are a good overview of what Lutheranism is and what defines our relationship with God. Dr. Daniel E. Paavola addresses this and other questions about his new book Grace, Faith, Scripture: Portrait of a Lutheran.
People know only so much about you. Your neighbors, the people at work, even your friends—they all know only a part of you. However, what they know paints their picture of you.
This blog post is an excerpt from Sincerely, Luther, our forthcoming set of fictional letters from Luther's perspective.
This prayer has been well loved by the church for years. Luther’s words accompany many of us each night as we talk with God. As Lutherans, we learn this prayer in childhood.
Luther's morning prayer has been well loved by the church for years. Luther’s words accompany many of us each morning as we talk with God.
In the following excerpt from his book, Being Lutheran, author Trevor Sutton talks about Jesus saving the world from a “meh” mentality and what that means for us as followers of Christ.
Martin Luther had a lot to say about a lot of things. The poor man even ate dinner with people sitting around taking notes every time he spoke. As a result of Luther saying so much for so long, Luther quotes can often be apocryphal in nature. When I hear one of these quotes, I like to say, “Well that certainly sounds like something Luther could have said, and maybe he should have said it, but he actually never did, as far as we know.”
In 1517, Martin Luther posted ninety-five statements (or theses) for debate in Wittenberg, Germany. His action was the beginning of the Reformation. Luther sought to reform the unbiblical teachings and practices that had crept into the Church, eclipsing the great good news that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting [people’s] trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
