AboutBrad Varvil Expertise I am happy to field questions regarding Lutheran theology and practice, and it's context
within the western catholic tradition. General questions on the Christian faith are also
welcome.
Experience I have served in lay ministry for over ten years, and am currently a pastor in a small, confessional Lutheran communion in the Evangelical Catholic tradition. I have worked with several Lutheran and non-Lutheran communions over the years, and have a particular fondness for catholic ecumenism.
Education/Credentials I have a BA in Religion and Philosophy from a small midwestern Lutheran college, and am completing an M.Div. at a small, independent, Lutheran seminary in the Pacific Northwest.
Question QUESTION: Do the Lutherans honour the virgin Mary the same way the
Catholics do by singing praises to her and asking her as the
mother of Jesus to intercede for us and in prayer pay tribute?
ANSWER: Dear Arjan,
There is a broad spectrum of private piety among Lutherans regarding the Blessed Virgin, which probably parallel the many influences that have been made upon Lutheran Christians since the Reformation. The easiest answer would be to simply say no, we don't, on the whole, practice the same kind of Marian piety that Roman Christians do... but Lutherans are no more monolithic than Roman Catholics when it comes to such things.
According to the Lutheran Confessions (gathered together in the 1580 Book of Concord) Lutherans formally acknowledge that honoring the saints (including our Blessed Mother) is a tradition to be cherished, particularly as we reflect on their great lives of faith and virtue, particularly during their historic feast days. We also confess that there is no clear command nor promise of Scripture regarding praying to the saints, whether they can hear or respond to us, or if they would even appreciate such a gesture. Therefore, without a clear command or promise from the Scriptures, we confess that praying to the saints cannot be forced upon the consciences of Christians (cf. Augsburg Confession.) There is no definitive injunction against praying to the saints in the Lutheran Confessions, but there is a caution that we must not place our faith or hope in anyone other than the Triune God-- noting that it is Christ alone who died for humanity's salvation, and Christ who is the greatest intercessor between God and man.
So with that said, there is a variety of expression among Lutherans regarding the Blessed Virgin. There are those among us (like me) who hold to practices akin to Luther, which is very Roman... even to praying the Rosary. There are others who get creeped out by something that seems too "Roman" to them. And there are others who just don't feel compelled one way or the other. We don't think of this as a core element of the catholic faith, but a matter of private piety-- (cf. Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds)-- thus, it is neither forbidden nor compelled.
I hope that helps clarify the situation a bit. May God Almighty keep you in His grace and providence,
Rev. Brad
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Do Lutherans believe in predestination?
Answer Yes, we do.
Luther was an Augustinian monk and priest, in addition to his doctoral status in Holy Scripture at the University of Wittenburg. He saw what Augustine saw in the Holy Scriptures, and affirmed predestination of the elect, as a doctrine of comfort to those within the household of faith. Unlike others (such as the Calvinists) Luther's approach to predestination recognized several key things:
-- That without the grace of God, we are so darkened in our fallen nature (or as St. Paul writes in Romans, "dead in trespasses and sins,") that we cannot on our own, or of our own power, seek out God, truly love Him, or earn His favor
-- If we are seeking Him, have faith in Him, and love Him, it means that God has come to us by some means, in order to enliven us (through preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the Sacraments, and so forth.)
-- Thus, if we live by faith in Christ, trusting in Him with a living faith that can do no other than work itself out in good works of love, we know that God has predestined us as His elect. Thus faith in Christ points us to the surety of our salvation in Christ, just as the doctrine of predestination points us to Christ as our only hope of salvation by faith in Him. The two are complimentary.
-- However, if by some horrific act of rebellion, we repudiate our saving Lord, turning rather to sin, death, and the devil again, we can lose our relationship with God; hence the need to always couple faith with repentance, so that our sins may be forgiven and our relationship with God be restored when our sinfulness overwhelms us. This is how we understand the Sacrament of Confession and Absolution, which again, by faith, points us back to our election as the people of God.
For Luther, and for Lutherans, predestination is a message of hope-- that God will never abandon us, and that He will complete the good work He has begun in us. It is never used as a stick to beat up on unbelievers (since we do not venture into speculation regarding God's election toward those who are damned) and never as a way to call believer's salvation into question (i.e., to cause the people of God to question whether God really elected them and whether or not they are really saved.) Predestination is applied and understood, in the context it is put forward especially by St. Paul, that since we are the beloved of God, living by faith in the Son of God, we have nothing to fear from our Father in Heaven, who has desired our salvation from before the foundation of the world.
