Why I Am A Lutheran Study Guide Opening Comments: We are very glad you are interested in this series. Don’t be surprised if you have questions that arise as you work through the study. Please do not hesitate to contact us at if you would like us to answer specific questions you may have, or if you would like to arrange a time to visit with us. Session 1: Introduction and Background Getting Started: If the members of your small group do not know each other, do introductions. Have each member tell their name and give a picture of their life: significant people, where most of one’s time is spent. Opening Prayer: Merciful God, as we gather, ease our fears, doubts, and worries. Send your Holy Spirit that our ears would be opened to the word you would have us hear. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. Questions: In this first class, it might be helpful for each of you to answer the following questions: What was your motivation to come to this class? What question/s do you have concerning Luther and Lutheranism? What do you hope to gain from this class? Have you ever thought about history as unpacking a backpack? Do you think this is a helpful way to think about it – especially in the context of Luther and Lutheranism – as we start this series of classes? Do we always know what is in our backpack? As part of this idea of history as unpacking a backpack, talk about your faith background, how you were raised, etc… and start thinking about how this may impact how you might react to what you will hear about Luther and Lutheranism. As you started to learn about the interconnectedness of the church and society in the Middle Ages, and leading up to Luther’s time, can you anticipate what might happen if something happened to disrupt that system? Session 2: The 95 Theses Getting Started: If you would like, it might be helpful to remind people of names if you don’t know one another well. Before watching the lecture, if there are people there who weren’t at the first class, ask them to tell a little about themselves and answer the questions
This marked the beginning of a long history of competing powers for the oversight of the institution. As the Roman Emperors championed Christianity, temporal authority was mixed in with spiritual regulation. Anyone having sacerdotal authority (clergy) automatically began to wield temporal influence thus giving clergy influence beyond pastoral responsibilities. As issues of faith arose, declarations, judgments and decisions across the Christian community lacked consistency. In an attempt to find a consistent policy, people began to refer to Rome as the universal court of appeals for spiritual matters. It became required that important matters be presented to the Bishop of Rome. This move detached clergy from worldly order and jurisdiction. The view was that clergy were under the supervision of the Pope and not the Emperor. Thus government regulation, both local and national, such as taxes and laws did not pertain to clergy. If you were clergy you had “diplomatic immunity.” The ruling contributed to the investiture controversy: Who had the right to appoint or “crown”? The controversy was fully manifest under Pope Gregory VII’s (1020-1085) prohibition of lay investiture: Only clergy could appoint and ordain clergy. This meant that the Emperor no longer had the power to choose the Pope. As the church acquired more authority, necessarily it came with a need for rulings. With rulings came precedent and laws- the result was the evolution of the “canon law.” With “laws” established by “the church,” clergy now had jurisdiction over those under the laws. Now local clergy had influence in political as well as spiritual matters. The papacy became a separate monarchy. The 4th Lateran Council (1215) centralized the power of the papacy. The church, governed by the papacy, was uniquely the congregatio fidelium (gathering of the faithful). Moreover, the Council put forth a profession of faith in the visible sacramental and eucharistic community found in Rome, “outside of which no one is saved.” Submission to the Roman Pontiff is necessary for salvation. The politics between the Council of Nicea and the Council of Constance ushered in an enormous amount of change in the structure and governance of the institutional church body. But in regard to the interpretation of the marks of the church (one, holy, catholic and apostolic) little if anything changed through the Middle Ages.