Lutheran Identity

Frank C. Senn

Augsburg, 2008

Reviewed by Dave Poedel

A number of years ago, while teaching a course in human anatomy and physiology at our local community college, a student in her early 20s approached me and said, “It is so cool that you are a pastor and my professor! What is even cooler is that you are the pastor of a black church.”

Somewhat taken aback, I replied, “Thanks, but what makes you think that my congregation is made up of African-Americans?”
She said, “Well, you know, Martin Luther King and all that.”

This is a true story! And to this day this episode causes me to ponder our identity as Lutheran catholic Christians. There have been numerous attempts to define Lutheranism from a doctrinal, ethnic, or sociological point of view. Too often, Lutheranism ends up being the best kept secret in the Christian church.

A few years back, Augsburg Fortress began a series called “Lutheran Voices” which, in typical AF style, attempted to feature all of the “voices” calling themselves “Lutheran” in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Whatever other Lutheran voices are out there, Frank Senn’s was definitely the Lutheran voice meant for this little book. It is classic “Senn” in emphasis, style, and vocabulary. It allows neither casual reading nor skimming. If anything, it calls for keeping reference books handy. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter will spur good group study and individual reflection.

The first three chapters lay the catholic foundations of Lutheranism. By laying this catholic foundation, Senn introduces the reader to the reality that Lutheranism is truly catholic and not simply some fantasy of protest. Throughout these chapters Senn grounds the Lutheran faith in word, sacrament, creeds, and liturgy.

In describing the canon of holy Scripture, Senn clearly favors canonical exegesis as the dominant mode of Biblical interpretation, with limited historical-critical exegesis to set a historical context. The goal of Bible study is to build the faith of the baptized or catechumen, not to tear faith down by questioning the authenticity or accuracy of the word. Senn acknowledges that a major use of Scripture in the community is in the liturgy, through the lectionary, the sermon as explication of the appointed texts, and the words of the divine service itself.

Senn then surveys the ecumenical creeds and their use in the worshipping community. Additionally he lists the Te Deum Laudamus, which Luther referred to as the third creed in his pamphlet The Three Symbols or Confessions of the Faith Used Unanimously in the Church of 1538 (Luther described the Apostles’ Creed as the first and the Athanasian Creed as the second). Lutherans also adopted Orthodox doxology in closing prayers (“through Jesus Christ your Son”) and in the liturgy. Senn emphasizes the importance of using the creeds:

It is very important that only these creeds and no others be recited (spoken or sung) in public worship. The substance of our ecumenical creeds goes back to apostolic times, and their precise formulations go back to the patristic era. They are affirmations of a faith that has been tested and achieved consensus in the ecumenical church. That cannot be said of affirmations of faith that are developed in local congregations or even in particular denominations. (46)

The fourth chapter is an excellent survey of the Lutheran Confessions and the development of the Book of Concord. Senn discusses the rite of confirmation, an almost universal headache in congregations, a “practice in search of a theory,” and Senn surveys the various approaches that have been taken in our Lutheran history.

This is followed by an excellent chapter on the common liturgy. The common service with its variations and nuance is really nothing but the mass of the western Catholic church as reformed by Luther and others. It is commonly noted in this generation that if you were to blindfold a Roman Catholic and a Lutheran, the only way they could distinguish one church from the other is that the Lutherans actually sing! (With the advent of church growth theology and practice, this old joke may not be accurate any more.)

Senn describes the common service from the various church orders of the Scandinavian liturgies, Muhlenberg’s liturgy, and finally the formation of the common service in America. Senn’s summary of the development of the last generation of hymnals is very useful in explaining where our worship forms have come from most recently. In a section entitled “Loosening Liturgical Ties,” Senn briefly describes the formation of the current generation’s Lutheran hymnals. Senn in particular commends the restoration of some of the liturgical piety abandoned or discouraged during the Reformation such as ashes on Ash Wednesday (which always confounded me, a cradle Roman Catholic, as to how an Ash Wednesday liturgy could be conducted without ashes!), the church calendar with saints’ days, and the daily offices.

The book closes with a chapter on our witness to the society. While the various Lutheran synods have had different views on how socially active we should be, Lutherans have held in common the belief that assisting those in need is a Christian obligation. Lutherans have been extremely active in disaster relief. It has been nearly forgotten in our present era of health care conglomerates that the church was historically the major provider of health care and social services. In the closing sentences of this book, Senn reminds us that we have much to offer to the world, and in ways that are not bound to the cultures from which we originated.

Of the offerings in this series that I (an LCMS pastor) have read, this book has the most to offer new Lutherans coming from other ethnic and cultural groups. While not permanently tied to a northern European culture, understanding the origin explains where we are from and offers a vision of where we could be going.

Dave Poedel is the Pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona.