Are Lutherans Catholic?

Looking for a Protestant Future? Try the Protestant Past. by

Mathew Block
6 . 24 . 14

“This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.”

So spoke many of us while confessing the Athanasian Creed a little while back on Trinity Sunday. But for those of us who are not “Roman” Catholic, speaking this way inevitably leads to a few raised eyebrows. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard fellow Lutherans ask the question: “Why did we say those words today? After all, we’re not really catholic... are we?”

The word is all the more striking for Lutherans of my tradition (ie, confessional Lutheranism) because our liturgy tends to substitute the word “Christian” for “Catholic” in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. We believe in “one holy Christian and Apostolic Church,” we say. This translation is actually an old tradition—older than the Reformation itself, in fact—but its continued use by English-speaking Lutherans can cause confusion. It sounds to many like a rejection of the “catholic” label. We’re Christian, we seem to be saying, but not Catholic.

Not so with the Athanasian Creed: Our liturgy retains the word “catholic” here. “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith,” reads the first line. So when Trinity Sunday rolls around, congregants end up surprised. “Okay, so we’re catholic,” they concede. “But what does that mean?”

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/06/are-lutherans-catholic

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/may/gospel-for-everyone.html?paging=off