I. State Churches in Europe

1. Name and History

The Lutheran Church in Europe is the oldest and probably the largest of the Evangelical denominations which sprang from the Reformation of the sixteenth cen tury. It was named after the great leader, first, in derision, by Roman Catholics, then by the fol lowers of Luther, though he protested against a sectarian use of his name. Its usual title is "Evangelical Lutheran Church." In Prussia and other countries of Germany where the union between Lutherans and Reformed has been intro duced (since 1817), the name "Lutheran" has been abandoned as a church title for "Evangelical" or "Evangelical United." This Church has its home in Germany, where it outnumbers all other Protestant denominations, and in Scandinavia (Den mark, Sweden, Norway), where it is the established or national Church. It extends to the Baltic prov inces of Russia, and follows the German emigration and the German language to other countries, espe cially to the United States, where it is now one of the strongest denominations (see below, 111.). The total membership, including all branches, is esti mated at about sixty millions. Its history may be divided into five periods: (1) The pentecostal or formative period of the Reformation, from the promulgation of Luther's ninety-five theses in 1517 to the publication of the "Book of Concord" in

1580. (2) The period of polemical orthodoxy, in which the doctrinal system of the church was scholastically defined and analyzed in opposition to Romanism, Calvinism, and the milder and more liberal Melanchthonian type of Lutheranism (as represented by Calixtus), 1580-1689. (3) The period of Pietism (Spener, d. 1705; and Francke, d. 1727), or a revival of practical piety in conflict with dead orthodoxy, from 1689 (when Francke began his Collegia philobfblica in Halls) to the middle of the eighteenth century. The Pietistic movement is analogous to the Methodist revival in the Church of England, but kept within the limits of the Lutheran state churches and did not result in secession. (4) The period of rationalism, which gradually invaded the universities, pulpits, and highest judicatories, and effected a complete revolution in theology and church life to such an extent that the few Moravian communities were for some time almost the only places of refuge for genuine piety in Germany. (5) The period of revival of Evangelical theology and religion at the-third centennial celebration of the Reformation, and the publication of Claus Harm's ninety-five theses against the rationalistic apostasy (1817). In the same year Prussia took the lead in the union movement which brought the Lutheran and Reformed confessions under one system of government, but called forth the "Old Lutheran" reaction and secession (see Union, Ecclesiastical). Since then there has been a constant conflict between Evangelical and rationalistic tendencies in the Lutheran and the United Evangelical Churches of Germany.

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