Protestant ecclesiology

==== Against denominationalism and schism ====

==== Against denominationalism and schism ====

Yet Luther, at least as late as 1519, argued against [[denominationalism]] and [[Schism (religion)|schism]], and the [[Augsburg Confession]] of 1530 can be interpreted (e.g. by McGrath 1998) as conciliatory{{sfn|McGrath|1998|p=2001}} (others, e.g. Rasmussen and Thomassen 2007, marshalling evidence, argue that Augsburg was not conciliatory but clearly impossible for the Roman Catholic Church to accept).{{sfn|Rasmussen|Thomassen|2007|p=294}} "Luther's early views on the nature of the church reflect his emphasis on the Word of God: the Word of God goes forth conquering, and wherever it conquers and gains true obedience to God is the church."{{sfn|McGrath|1998|p=202}}

Yet Luther, at least as late as 1519, argued against [[denominationalism]] and [[Schism (religion)|schism]], and the [[Augsburg Confession]] of 1530 can be interpreted (e.g. by McGrath 1998) as conciliatory{{sfn|McGrath|1998|p=2001}} (others, e.g. Rasmussen and Thomassen 2007, marshalling evidence, argue that Augsburg was not conciliatory but clearly impossible for the Roman Catholic Church to accept).{{sfn|Rasmussen|Thomassen|2007|p=294}} "Luther's early views on the nature of the church reflect his emphasis on the Word of God: the Word of God goes forth conquering, and wherever it conquers and gains true obedience to God is the church."{{sfn|McGrath|1998|p=202}}

==== Sacramental validity ====

[[File:Konsekration och elevation av nattvardskalken i Maria Magdalena Kyrka.jpg|thumb|300px|Evangelical-Lutheran priest elevating the chalice during the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] at [[Maria Magdalena Church]], Sweden]]

Though Evangelical-Lutherans are not dogmatic about the number of [[sacraments]], three Lutheran sacraments are generally recognized including [[baptism]], [[absolution|confession]], and the [[eucharist]].{{cite book |last1=Lackmann |first1=Max |title=The Augsburg Confession and Catholic Unity |date=1963 |publisher=Herder and Herder |page=54 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Galler |first1=Jayson S. |title=Word & Sacrament |url=https://www.pilgrimlc.org/word-sacrament |publisher=Pilgrim Lutheran Church |access-date=9 May 2025 |language=English |date=2025 |quote=...generally in the Lutheran Christian tradition we speak of three sacraments.}}{{cite book |last1=Becker |first1=Matthew L. |title=Fundamental Theology: A Protestant Perspective |date=25 January 2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-70572-3 |language=en|quote=Unitl that final revelation of the church, when it will be revealed to be what the apostles have said it is, the church proclaims the gospel and administers the sacraments (especially baptism, the Lord's Supper [also called Holy Communion or the Eucharist], and Holy Absolution [the formal proclamation of the forgiveness of sins)—all for the sake of calling people to faith, hope, and love and keeping them united with Christ and with one another in the one church of Christ. And where the gospel is proclaimed and the sacraments administered in accord with that gospel, there the church truly is. Indeed, the Holy Spirit acts through the word and the sacraments, in Luther's phrase, "to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian church ''on earth''" (the church is not a Platonic reality) and keep it united to Christ. Because of the power of the Spirit to create and preserve the church, even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Mt. 16.18).}}{{cite book|last1=Jensen |first1=Gordon A. |title=Martin Luther's Sacramental Theology |publisher=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |date=22 December 2016 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.359|isbn=978-0-19-934037-8 |quote=When Luther turned his attention to the number of sacraments in his 1520 treatise "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church," he reduced them from the seven recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. ... he reduced the valid sacraments from seven to three: "baptism, penance, and the bread"}}

In Evangelical-Lutheran theology, sacraments are "effective and valid in as much as they enacted the Word of God". Proper intent contributes to sacramental validity as well, for example, intending to partake of the "very body and blood of Christ".{{cite book |last1=Mahon |first1=Katharine |title=Teach Us to Pray: The Lord’s Prayer, Catechesis, and Ritual Reform in the Sixteenth Century |date=1 April 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-9787-0685-9 |language=en}} This affects the recogition of sacramental validity in other Christian denominations, in view with the Evangelical Lutheran doctrine of the [[real presence of Christ in the Eucharist]]. While Evangelical-Lutherans recognize the celebration of the Eucharist in the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es and [[Oriental Orthodox Church]]es, Evangelical-Lutherans do not recognize the sacramental validity of the Lord's Supper as it is celebrated in the [[Baptists|Baptist Churches]].{{cite book |title=Look, Volume 15 |date=1951 |publisher=Cowles Communications |page=121 |language=en |quote=Lutherans do not acknowledge the sacramental validity of the Lord's Supper as it is celebrated in Baptist Churches, while Baptists do not recognize a baptism performed in a Lutheran Church.}}{{cite book |last1=Corpis |first1=Duane J. |title=Crossing the Boundaries of Belief: Geographies of Religious Conversion in Southern Germany, 1648-1800 |date=3 June 2014 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-3553-9 |language=en |quote=... sacramental validity of the Catholic baptism (which even Lutherans recognized as a legitimate rite)}}

==== Nomenclature ====

==== Nomenclature ====