The Lutheran Church 

The term Lutheran, which appeared as early as 1519, was coined by Luther’s opponents. The self-designation of Luther’s followers was “evangelical”—that is, centred on the Gospel. Lutheranism is the branch of Christianity that traces its interpretation of the Christian religion to the teachings of Luther and his reforms. Along with Anglicanism, the Reformed and Presbyterian (Calvinist) churches, Methodism, and the Baptist churches, Lutheranism is one of the five major branches of Protestantism.

Theologically, Lutheranism embraces the standard affirmations of classic Protestantism—the repudiation of papal and ecclesiastical authority in favour of the Bible (sola Scriptura), the rejection of five of the traditional seven sacraments affirmed by the Catholic Church, and the insistence that human reconciliation with God is effected solely by divine grace (sola gratia), which is appropriated solely by faith (sola fide), in contrast to the notion of a convergence of human effort and divine grace in the process of salvation.