BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH

The term "Lutheran" goes back to the 1500s. For more than a thousand years the New Testament Church had been spreading into and throughout Europe. But as it spread, so to did man-made teachings and Biblical errors. In 1517 a monk, named Martin Luther, began to discover some of these mistakes and called the Church's attention to them. He and others like him called the Church to return to "Scripture Alone" as their only source of doctrine. One of his most important contributions to the Christian Church was the translation and publication of the Bible in the common language of the German people.

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Their efforts were not as well received as they might have hoped. Unfortunately this wedge between Church leaders and teachers widened until it became a split. Luther, and those who agreed with his "Scripture Alone" idea, were officially banned from the Roman Catholic Church. But God blessed these hardships because in going through them these pastors and theologians were forced to write detailed confessions (statements) about what they did and did not believe the Bible taught. These confessions include things as simple as an explanation to what the Bible means when we read "You shall not kill" to lengthy and detailed explanations on the place of "good works" in the life of the Christian.

 

Those confessions are fast approaching their 500th birthdays, yet the truths of them remain because they are nothing but clear explanations of what the Bible teaches. You can read them all in the unaltered Book of Concord of 1580. That link will take you to a copyright free translation. Newer, more modern language translations can be found through  Concordia Publishing House.