The Lutheran church is a Protestant denomination. It was in the 16th century that the Lutheran church was born as a result of a church reform effort by Martin Luther and a number of others. Martin Luther was known to the religious community as a German monk. Nevertheless, there are some that have come to know Martin Luther as the Father of the Lutheran churches. He is also known as the “Father of Reformation.” Martin Luther was the religious leader that was displeased with some of the practices of the Catholic church, and decided that he would go on to bring this point to the forefront, and address the issues as they stood. Martin Luther further initiated his acts of reform by giving birth to the Lutheran churches. The Lutheran churches were intended to serve as keeping the core values of the Catholic church, but modifying the modes of practice to fit what was believed by some to be the ideal model. One of the most important aspects to the early Lutheran church was education. Therefore, one aspect that Lutheran churches still practiced to closely hold on to was keeping in line with the teachings of the same religious doctrine.
The early Lutheran church did have some major disparities from the Catholic church that were noted. One of these was the way in which members of the Lutheran church could gain access to God. The new belief that was practiced in Lutheran churches is that, through the help of the scripture, each individual had the capacity to reach God. The Lutheran church did not believe that an individual had to go through a priest in order to be able to connect with God. The early Lutheran churches did not have as steadfast regulations when it came to the way in which baptism would be carried out. Thus, this influenced the latter Lutheran churches to offer baptism candidacy to both children and adults. Another dramatic change that was effective in the Lutheran church was the fact that the Lutheran church had formulated a church policy which stated that the church did not have to have a set program, that would repeat accordingly at each service. The Lutheran churches had the freedom to devise a service that fit their preference. One of the key principles of the Lutheran church was in regards to salvation and how it can be achieved. The Lutheran churches took on the belief of Martin Luther. The Lutheran churches believed that the key to salvation was faith. One of the key points stressed was that the works that a person does only counts towards salvation if it is done on the basis of faith. Finally, the Lutheran church took on the belief that salvation is something that can be achieved by all, due to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
