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Lutheran
"A Lutheran is a person who believes, teaches and confesses the truths of God's Word as they are summarized and confessed in the Book of Concord." The Book of Concord contains the Lutheran confessions of faith.
Being a Lutheran is being a person who believes the truths of God's Word, the Holy Bible, as they are correctly explained and taught in the Book of Concord. To do so is to confess the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Lutheran Church is the oldest Protestant Christian tradition, dating back to the Protestant Reformation and the person of Martin Luther. Lutherans are those Christians who choose to accept Martin Luther's teachings. On October 31, 1517, Luther, a Catholic monk, posted his 95 Theses as a challenge to the doctrine and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, hoping to reform the practices he felt were inconsistent with scripture. When the conflict escalated to a distinct separation with the Roman Catholic Church, those who accepted Luther's reforms became "Lutherans." Based on Luther's own writings, Lutherans still uphold Luther's theological teachings such as sola scriptura (scripture as the primary authority for faith and life), justification by the grace of God alone, and salvation through faith in Christ alone. Luther's many theological ideas have since been collected into the Book of Concord, which is still an authority in Lutheran doctrine and practice. Because of its initial grounding in the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran worship, more than many other Protestant traditions, has many elements similar to the Catholic style of worship. Lutheranism spread from Germany to most countries across the globe and has become one of the largest Protestant denominations.

Beliefs
1. Bible - Traditionally, Lutherans hold the Bible of the Old and New Testaments to be the only divinely inspired book, the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, and the only norm for Christian teaching. Scripture alone is the formal principle of the faith, the final authority for all matters of faith and morals.
2. Divine Authority - Historically, Lutherans maintain that Holy Scripture, the Word of God, carries the full authority of God. For confessional Lutherans, every single statement of the Bible calls for instant and unqualified acceptance.
3. Law and Gospel - Lutherans understand the Bible as containing two distinct types of content, termed Law and Gospel (or Law and Promises). Properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel prevents the obscuring of the Gospel teaching of justification by grace through faith alone.
4. Lutheran Confessions - The Book of Concord, contains ten documents which some Lutherans believe are faithful and authoritative explanations of Holy Scripture. Besides the three Ecumenical Creeds, which date to Roman times, the Book of Concord contains creedal documents articulating Lutheran theology in the Reformation era. 3 Ecumenical Creeds: Nicene Creed, Apostles Creed, Athanasian Creed
5. Justification - The key doctrine, or material principle, of Lutheranism is the doctrine of justification. Lutherans believe that humans are saved from their sins by God's grace alone, through faith alone. Lutheran theology holds that God made the world, including humanity, perfect, holy and sinless.
6. Trinity - Lutherans reject the idea that the Father and the Son are merely faces of the same person, stating that both the Old Testament and the New Testament show them to be two distinct persons. Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal."

Traditions:
1. Liturgy - Lutheran hymns are sometimes known as chorales. Lutheran hymnody is well known for its doctrinal, didactic, and musical richness. Most Lutheran churches are active musically with choirs, hand bell choirs, children's choirs, and occasionally carillon groups. Lutherans also preserve a liturgical approach to the celebration of the Mass (or the Holy Eucharist/Communion), emphasizing the sacrament as the central act of Christian worship. Lutherans believe that the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ are present in, with and under the bread and the wine. This belief is called Real Presence or sacramental union.
2. Church Fellowship or Education- Church fellowship or education is considered basic in most Lutheran churches. Almost all maintain Sunday Schools, and some host or maintain Lutheran schools, at the preschool, elementary, middle, high school, folk high school, or university level. Lifelong study of the catechism is intended for all ages so that the abuses of the pre-Reformation Church will not recur. Lutheran schools have always been a core aspect of Lutheran mission work.

Sacraments:
1. Baptism - The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which one is initiated into the Christian faith. Lutherans teach that at Baptism, they receive God's promise of salvation. At the same time, they receive the faith they need to be open to God's grace. Lutherans baptize by sprinkling or pouring water on the head of the person.
2. Eucharist - The Sacrament of the Eucharist (also called the Sacrament of the Altar, the Mass, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, (Holy) Communion, the Breaking of the Bread, and the Blessed Sacrament) is where communicants eat and drink the true Body and Blood of Christ Himself, "in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine. This Eucharistic theology is known as the Sacramental Union.
3. Penance- (confession) is actually considered a sacrament by some; but most reject this teaching, saying it does not have a visible element.
4. Confirmation - Confirmation is a public profession of faith prepared for by long and careful instruction. In English, it is known as the "affirmation of baptism", and is a mature and public profession of the faith which "marks the completion of the congregation's program of confirmation ministry"
5. Holy Matrimony - Holy Matrimony is a union between a man and woman, acknowledging the grace of God in their life. Lutherans generally allow contraception to be used.
6. Holy Orders - Martin Luther taught that each individual was expected to fulfil his God-appointed task in everyday life. However, in some Lutheran churches, Holy Orders refers to the three orders of bishop, priest and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders, is retained
7. Anointing of the Sick - The Lutheran Church, like others, uses James 5:14–15 as biblical reference for Anointing of the Sick. The process of this rite consists of laying on of hands and/or anointing with oil; while the form consists of prayers.