This is over-simplification in practice, but sometimes simplification helps. There’s a way in which each denomination has their “one thing” that defines them as a movement. Some examples:
Episcopalianism: The Book of Common Prayer
Roman Catholics: The Pope
Baptists: Emphasis on “believer’s baptism”
Evangelicalism: White Nationalism
Quakers: Simplicity
Mennonites: Pacifism
Congregationalists: The authority of the local congregation
Pentecostalism: Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Methodism: The General Conference
So what is “the one thing” for Lutherans? Well, the answer is The Book of Concord. Which is to say, our confessions. We are a confessional church.
Now that collection of confessions is a big book, and even includes multiple catechisms, which are designed to be comprehensive elucidations of Christian teachings. So, that means many theological commitments are centered in the book as a whole.
If you went to a group of Lutherans and asked them about the “main thing,” Lutherans often lay claim to “grace,” or “justification by faith.” Etc.
But many of these emphases are also the emphases of other denominations. Lutherans don’t have a special claim to the doctrine of grace, for example, even though a lot of Lutherans feel like grace is the “main thing.”
But what distinguishes us is our ongoing commitment to subscribing to a set of founding confessional texts that we believe are a good faith interpretation of Scripture. These are collected in the Book of Concord.
Chief among these confessions is the Augsburg Confession. It’s so central that many Lutheran churches across the globe actually call themselves “Church of the Augsburg Confession.” Basically, it’s the first set of “confessions” the early Lutheran movement articulated in response to the condemnation of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. There are other confessions (even ones I like better, like the Smalcald Articles), and there is a longer form explanation of the AC written by Philip Melanchthon (the Apology to the AC), but the AC is central because of its quality and its historical significance.
So what does it mean for Lutheranism to be a confessional movement? Well, for one, it means we focus on doctrine. We have tended to believe that preaching the faith clearly is the most important thing, and that other rites, structures, etc. are secondary to confessional fidelity. This is why you can find Lutherans who are more congregational, and other Lutherans who are more episcopal. We don’t have just one way of organizing.
It’s also partially why we are particularly good at intentional ecumenical conversations. Because we practice confessional work around our beliefs, from the very start we were formed by a process of sharing back and forth what we believe, mutually challenging one another to better articulations of the faith. The AC was a response to the Roman Catholic critique. After the AC, eventually the Roman Catholics held the Council of Trent in order to a definitive statement and response to issues raised by the Augsburg Confession.
That whole process didn’t go particularly well. In fact it was awful and resulted in some wars. However, in 2000 the Roman Catholics and Lutherans issued a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, essentially working through the core differences between our communions on the issue that initially divided us. So the back and forth of confessing can bear fruit.
Is the ELCA still “confessional” today? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. Although all pastors in our denomination promise to teach and preach in accordance with the confessions when they are ordained, and the confessions are named in our church constitutions, the confessions themselves are largely unknown and unstudied among Lutheran Church members. It’s a very old book now at this point, still very helpful and clear on many topics, but also written in and addressing the concerns and questions of people of faith in the 16th century.
We’re not in the 16th century anymore, though. The ELCA today still often tests new statements of faith over against Scripture and the confessions, but I think if we’re honest, new Christian movements influence us as much or more than the confessions themselves, chief among these being the social gospel movement of the 20th century and various liberation theologies still ongoing.
This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, if you read my list above, you probably know that central to evangelicalism is an emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus. But movements can be usurped. They can shift. Evangelicalism has. It’s become rather untethered, to be honest.
So too some more conservative Lutherans might argue that our kind of Lutheranism has become untethered from confessionalism.
I don’t think they’re wrong. Lutherans have always been a rather capacious and odd bunch. Just remember, Kierkegaard was a Lutheran. So was Rudolf Bultmann. And Dorothee Soelle. That’s a very, very wide range right there. So inasmuch as Lutherans have tended to exercise a kind of confessionalism, it has rarely been strict or “orthodox,” or has only been such in certain enclaves.
Confessionalism done well is more a kind of touching point for where one goes next. You can always go back to that text and tag it and test out where things have gone since then in your theology and practice. In that sense it is tremendously useful, and rather fascinating.
I’m hoping all of this was enough to fascinate some readers and make you curious. I’m also hoping I’ve been wrong enough that some folks debate what I’ve written.