Lutheranism

===Lutheran confessions===
[[File:Bookofconcord.jpg|thumb|The cover page of the ''[[Book of Concord]]'', published in 1580]]
The ''[[Book of Concord]]'', published in 1580, contains 10 documents which some Lutherans believe are faithful and authoritative explanations of Holy Scripture. Besides the three [[Ecumenical Creeds]], which date to [[Roman Empire|Roman times]], the ''Book of Concord'' contains seven [[Creed|credal]] documents articulating Lutheran theology in the Reformation era.

The doctrinal positions of Lutheran churches are not uniform because the ''Book of Concord'' does not hold the same position in all Lutheran churches. For example, the [[State religion#Lutheran|state churches]] in Scandinavia consider only the ''Augsburg Confession'' as a "summary of the faith" in addition to the three ecumenical creeds.<ref>F.E. Mayer, The Religious Bodies of America. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1954, p. 184. For further information, see [http://www.wlsessays.net/node/491 The Formula of Concord in the History of Swedish Lutheranism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707192443/http://www.wlsessays.net/node/491 |date=7 July 2010 }} by Seth Erlandsson</ref> Lutheran pastors, congregations, and church bodies in Germany and the Americas usually agree to teach in harmony with the entire Lutheran confessions. Some Lutheran church bodies require this pledge to be unconditional because they believe the confessions correctly state what the Bible teaches. Others allow their congregations to do so "insofar as" the confessions are in agreement with the Bible. In addition, Lutherans accept the teachings of the first seven [[ecumenical councils]] of the Christian Church.<ref name="Olson1999">{{cite book|title=The Ecumenical Councils and Authority in and of the Church|date=10 July 1993|publisher=The Lutheran World Federation|url=https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/1993-Lutheran_Orthodox_Dialogue-EN.pdf|quote=The seven ecumenical councils of the early Church were assemblies of the bishops of the Church from all parts of the Roman Empire to clarify and express the apostolic faith. These councils are Nicaea (325 AD), Constantinople I (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople II (553), Constantinople III (680/81), and Nicaea II (787)... As Lutherans and Orthodox we affirm that the teachings of the ecumenical councils are authoritative for our churches ... The Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons in the churches, was not part of the tradition received by the Reformation. Lutherans, however, rejected the iconoclasm of the 16th century, and affirmed the distinction between adoration due to the Triune God alone and all other forms of veneration (CA 21). Through historical research this council has become better known.  Nevertheless it does not have the same significance for Lutherans as it does for the Orthodox. Yet, Lutherans and Orthodox are in agreement that the Second Council of Nicaea confirms the christological teaching of the earlier councils and in setting forth the role of images (icons) in the lives of the faithful reaffirms the reality of the incarnation of the eternal Word of God, when it states: "The more frequently, Christ, Mary, the mother of God, and the saints are seen, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these icons the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred objects" (Definition of the Second Council of Nicaea).}}</ref><ref name="Kelly2009">{{cite book|title=Ecumenical Council|publisher=Titi Tudorancea Encyclopedia|year=1991–2016|url=https://www.tititudorancea.net/z/ecumenical_council.htm|quote=The Lutheran World Federation, in ecumenical dialogues with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has affirmed all of the first seven councils as ecumenical and authoritative.}}</ref>

The Lutheran Church traditionally sees itself as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the [[Reformation]], the [[Holy See|Church of Rome]] fell away.<ref name="Remensnyder1893">{{cite book |author1=Junius Benjamin Remensnyder |title=The Lutheran Manual |date=1893 |publisher=Boschen & Wefer Company |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWA3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA12 |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Frey1918">{{cite book|last=Frey|first=H.|title=Is One Church as Good as Another?|volume=37|year=1918|publisher=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=English|pages=82–83}}</ref> As such, the ''Augsburg Confession'' 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".<ref name="Ludwig2016">{{cite magazine|title=Luther's Catholic Reformation|last=Ludwig|first=Alan|date=12 September 2016|magazine=[[The Lutheran Witness]]|language=en|quote=When the Lutherans presented the ''Augsburg Confession'' before Emperor Charles V in 1530, they carefully 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 and even the canon law of the Church of Rome. They boldly claim, "This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers" (AC XXI Conclusion 1). The underlying thesis of the ''Augsburg Confession'' is 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. In fact, it is actually the Church of Rome that has departed from the ancient faith and practice of the catholic church (see AC XXIII 13, XXVIII 72 and other places).}}</ref> When the Lutherans presented the ''Augsburg Confession'' to [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], they explained "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".<ref name="Ludwig2016"/>