Lutheranism

===Rationalism===
Rationalist philosophers from France and England had an enormous impact during the 18th century, along with the German Rationalists [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]], [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz#Ecumenism|Gottfried Leibniz]], and [[Immanuel Kant#Religious writings|Immanuel Kant]]. Their work led to an increase in rationalist beliefs, "at the expense of faith in God and agreement with the Bible".<ref name=CC426/>

In 1709, [[Valentin Ernst Löscher]] warned that this new Rationalist view of the world fundamentally changed society by drawing into question every aspect of theology. Instead of considering the authority of divine revelation, he explained, Rationalists relied solely on their personal understanding when searching for truth.<ref>Kleinig, Vernon P. "Confessional Lutheranism in Eighteenth-Century Germany." ''[http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/kleinigconfessionallutheranism.pdf Concordia Theological Quarterly 60(1–2)]'' Jan–April 1996: Part I, Valentin Ernst Loescher p. 102.</ref>

[[Johann Melchior Goeze]] (1717–1786), pastor of [[St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg]], wrote [[Christian apologetics|apologetical]] works against Rationalists, including a theological and historical defence against the [[historical criticism]] of the Bible.<ref>Kleinig, Vernon P. "Confessional Lutheranism in Eighteenth-Century Germany." ''[http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/kleinigconfessionallutheranism.pdf Concordia Theological Quarterly 60(1–2)]'' Jan–April 1996: Part II, Melchior Goeze pp. 109–112.</ref>

Dissenting Lutheran pastors were often reprimanded by the government bureaucracy overseeing them, for example, when they tried to correct Rationalist influences in the parish school.<ref>Rietschel, William C. ''An Introduction to the Foundations of Lutheran Education''. St. Louis: Concordia, 2000. p. 25 (Although this reference specifically mentions Saxony, government promoted rationalism was a trend across Germany)</ref> As a result of the impact of a local form of rationalism, termed [[Neology]], by the latter half of the 18th century, genuine piety was found almost solely in small Pietist conventicles.<ref name=CC426/> However, some of the laity preserved Lutheran orthodoxy from both Pietism and rationalism through reusing old catechisms, hymnbooks, [[postil]]s, and devotional writings, including those written by [[Johann Gerhard]], [[Heinrich Müller (theologian)|Heinrich Müller]] and [[Christian Scriver]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stolaf.edu/people/lund/Research.htm|title=Untitled Document|access-date=5 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924110723/http://www.stolaf.edu/people/lund/Research.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>