What Lutherans Believe

What Lutherans Believe.

We believe that only the Bible is the source of inspiration and teaching. Lutherans worldwide also believe that the Lutheran Confessions, contained in the Book of Concord of 1580, are true expositions of the word of God. These documents are:

  • the three ecumenical creeds (confessed by Christians around the world): the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed
  • the Augsburg Confession
  • the Apology of the Augsburg Confession
  • the Smalcald Articles
  • the Small Catechism of Luther
  • the Large Catechism of Luther
  • the Formula of Concord.

The Lutheran Church is primarily based on the teachings and beliefs of the 16th-century German friar, church reformer and theologian, Martin Luther. While there are many distinct bodies of the Lutherans throughout the world, each one to a certain extent follows the theology of Martin Luther and his Protestant Reformation from the Catholic Church.

Lutherans promotes the concept of justification “by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone”, the belief that the Bible is the ultimate authority on all issues of faith. Today, it is estimated there are over 70 million members of different Lutheran denominations all around the world.Â