The Reformation
The Lutherans take their name from a 16th Century Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, who attempted to reform the Catholic church of the time. He challenged the practice of the clergy "selling" redemption and later, the supremacy and infallability of the Pope. In addition, he wrote several articles condemning the church of Rome as having moved far from the true doctrine as given in the Bible.
Luther was called to give account of his theological stand before representatives of the Pope, a dangerous situation which could have seen him imprisoned or even killed. Fortunately, he had the protection of Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony, a powerful man who had sympathies with Luther's convictions.
A papal decree called for him to recant his teachings, but Luther continued to write proliferately and disseminate his views to an eager public. Though he was eventually excommunicated in 1521, he had attracted a great deal of support in Germany and attempts to silence this recalcitrant monk were met with resistance from nobles and general populace.
Luther had realized early on how ignorant the laity and clergy of his day were when it came to even the most basic tenets of the Christian faith. Around 1529, he produced two handbooks (Small and Large Catechism) to help pastors and the heads of families teach the faith.
By the time of his death in 1546, the Protestant church had achieved recognition with agreements between German city states and Rome. In spite of the tumultuous change that Luther had wrought, there remained in Protestanism many Catholic traditions and litugical similarities such as confession and the real presence of Christ at the eucharist.
Today, agreements have been signed between the Lutheran World Federation and representatives of the Catholic church and other churches, particularly the Anglican Church, and a movement towards ecumenicalism is underway.
