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.

What are your memories of growing up Lutheran? How has growing up Lutheran impacted your life?

A few years ago, I wrote this blog about why our family loves Lutheran schools. Every year, this post circulates among Lutheran educators and parents. I’m so glad for those of you who also love your Lutheran school.

After school is homework time at my house. The kids are working on their homework, and as I tell them, “Mom has some homework too.” So they work through math problems, reading assignments, and memory work while I tackle emails or other work projects that need to be addressed before the end of the day. Recently, during our homework time, I perked up when my eight-year-old said, “Alexa, open the Small Catechism.” Alexa greeted him, then Connor asked, “Alexa, what is the Second Commandment?”

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.”