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==The Lutheran Church==
The Lutheran Church began when Martin Luther, ( a former Catholic Priest)protested against the churches practices of selling indulgence and other non-scripture based practices including "buying" people sainthood or out of hell or purgatory. He also rejected the idea that the Pope as the head of the church on Earth. The Protestants Reformation finds its origin based upon the work of this 16th Century monk. Without the work of Luther and the reformers of this time their would still only be two or three denominations of the Christian Church.
Today their are more than 70 million Lutheran adherents and more than 400 million of other protestant denominations that are off shoots of his reforms. On October 31, 1517 Luther first posted his 95 Theses on the doors of churches through out Germany. This began the theological debate that lead to the separation of the church in Germany and other countries to split with Rome. The main bases that the Catholic church and the Lutherans saw as the critical point in their beliefs was the reliance on faith to save a person verses the selling of artifacts and indulgences to the adherents.
Some of the other major characteristic of the Lutheran Church include the use of Luther's Large and Small Catechism as an educational tool and the use of the "Lord's Supper" for communion and infant baptism.
==Early Church History==
As stated, the history of the Lutheran Church and Protestantism in general began with Luther's posting of the 95 theses which help provoke a great theological discussion of the position of the church in forgiveness and salvation. Luther sent the 95 Theses to many of the Catholic Church leaders including the Pope to help reform and correct the church. the original intent was not so much to break away from the church but to make it more adhering to the scriptures.
Luther's insights are generally held to have been a major foundation of the Protestant movement. The relationship between Lutheranism and the Protestant tradition is, however, ambiguous: some Lutherans consider Lutheranism to be outside the Protestant tradition, while some see it as part of this tradition. Regardless, the Lutheran tradition removed the worship and prayer of Saints and Apostles and Mary and Joseph from their beliefs.
Between 1517 and 1520, Luther preached and published his criticisms of what he considered false doctrine of the church of his day in books and pamphlets. His ideas were supported by many other Christian theologians, and they also had a certain populist appeal. As a result, Luther gained many supporters and followers from all levels of society, from peasants who considered him a folk hero, to knights who swore to protect him, to rulers of German lands who wanted more independence from papal interference in their domestic policies.