Gnesio-Lutherans

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Key figures Missionaries John Campanius Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Hans Egede Johann Heinrich Callenberg Johann Phillip Fabricius Paul Henkel John Christian Frederick Heyer Karl Graul Martti Rautanen Wilhelm Sihler F. C. D. Wyneken Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Lars Olsen Skrefsrud Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Onesimos Nesib Paul Olaf Bodding Johann Flierl Christian Keyser Jens Christensen Bible Translators Martin Luther Casiodoro de Reina Kjell Magne Yri Onesimos Nesib Aster Ganno Kristian Osvald Viderø Jákup Dahl Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Johann Phillip Fabricius William Tyndale John Rogers George Constantine Jozef Roháček Johannes Avetaranian Guðbrandur Þorláksson Ludvig Olsen Fossum Hans Egede / Paul Egede Otto Fabricius Nils Vibe Stockfleth Olaus Petri / Laurentius Petri Martti Rautanen Primož Trubar Jurij Dalmatin Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Sebastian Krelj Mikael Agricola Norwegian Bible Society Swedish Bible Society Samuel Ludwik Zasadius Stanislovas Rapolionis Laurentius Andreae Hans Tausen Olaf M. Norlie Jonas Bretkūnas Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Antonio Brucioli Mikołaj Jakubica Matthias Bel Johann Ernst Glück William F. Beck Theologians Martin Luther / Katharina von Bora Philip Melanchthon Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Brenz Justus Jonas Hans Tausen Laurentius Petri Olaus Petri Mikael Agricola Matthias Flacius Martin Chemnitz Johann Gerhard Abraham Calovius Johannes Andreas Quenstedt Johann Wilhelm Baier Philipp Spener David Hollaz August Hermann Francke Henry Muhlenberg Lars Levi Laestadius Charles Porterfield Krauth C. F. W. Walther Søren Kierkegaard Albrecht Ritschl Wilhelm Herrmann F. W. Stellhorn Rudolf Otto Ernst Troeltsch Rudolf Bultmann Paul Tillich Hermann Sasse Dietrich Bonhoeffer Wolfhart Pannenberg Robert Jenson
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Gnesio-Lutherans (from Greek γνήσιος [gnesios]: genuine, authentic)^[1] is a modern name for a theological party in the Lutheran churches,^[2] in opposition to the Philippists^[3] after the death of Martin Luther and before the Formula of Concord. In their own day they were called Flacians by their opponents and simply Lutherans by themselves. Later Flacian became to mean an adherent of Matthias Flacius' view of original sin, rejected by the Formula of Concord. In a broader meaning, the term Gnesio-Lutheran is associated mostly with the defence of the doctrine of Real Presence, along with the practice Eucharistic adoration.^[4]

The centres of Gnesio-Lutherans were Magdeburg and the University of Jena.

Other notable Gnesio-Lutherans include Caspar Aquila, Joachim Westphal, Johann Wigand, Matthäus Judex, Joachim Mörlin, Erasmus Sarcerius, and Aegidius Hunnius.

After the death of Martin Luther, several theological controversies arose among Lutherans due mostly to the teachings of Philip Melanchthon. Gnesio-Lutherans were profiled by defending Martin Luther's doctrine, led initially by Matthias Flacius. The Gnesio-Lutherans exercised strict doctrinal discipline, but they also opposed with equal determination what they considered to be the errors of their fellow combatants like von Amsdorf (Amsdorfians), Flacius (Flacians), Andreas Poach, and others.

Gnesio-Lutherans were involved in:

• the Adiaphoristic controversy
• the Majoristic controversy (Nicolaus von Amsdorf, Nicolaus Gallus)
• the second Antinomian controversy (Andreas Poach, Anton Otto)
• the Synergistic controversy (Matthias Flacius, Nicolaus Gallus)
• the Osiandrian controversy
• the Crypto-Calvinistic controversy.

The Crypto-Calvinistic controversy was the largest of the controversies of the second generation of the Lutheran Reformation. Since it was far more fundamental to the Lutheran Church, Lutherans outside of the Flacian party took the Gnesio-Lutheran position against Philippism and Crypto-Calvinism. In the middle between the Philippists and the Gnesio-Lutherans, the Centrist Party included Johannes Brenz, Jakob Andreae, Martin Chemnitz, Nikolaus Selnecker, David Chytraeus, Andreas Musculus, and others.

Unlike the Gnesio-Lutherans, members of the centre party were opposed to any unnecessary controversies involving no doctrinal differences, and careful not to fall into any extreme position themselves. The Gnesio-Lutheran Joachim Westphal was first to write to defend the Real Presence against the Calvinists, and Melanchthon stigmatized his and other Gnesio-Lutherans' doctrine as "bread worship".^[5] The Gnesio-Lutherans practice Eucharistic adoration, following Martin Luther's treatise titled The Adoration of the Sacrament, in which he defended the practice of Eucharistic adoration.^[4]