To be Lutheran is to be Biblical
Founding father of our Missouri Synod, C. F. W. Walther, summed up the life work of Martin Luther this way:
“His Reformation was a Bible Reformation; the Christianity he preached, a Bible Christianity; the Church for which he battled, a Bible Church; and every controversy in which he engaged, a controversy for the Bible.”
Why the name ‘Lutheran’?
Walther wrote the following about this topic in his first issues of “Der Lutheraner” (1844-1847).
“Is it wrong to use the name ‘Lutheran’? Let no one imagine that in and of itself, it is wrong when Christians let themselves be named after a man. This is shown undeniably by the fact that the church of the Old Testament was named by God Himself after a man. What did He call them? — the Israelites…
“Therefore, we do not call ourselves Lutherans after (Luther) in the same way that we are called Christians on account of Christ. We are not called such because we believe in Luther. As highly as we treasure this vigorous witness, in our church we still do not accept so much as a word in matters of faith simply because Luther said it. Rather, we accept his words only in the instance that it can be shown written clearly in the Word of God. We do not accept him as any apostle or prophet, but rather we know that he was subject to error and sin like other men. He is not the head of our church. He is not our pope…
“In what sense do we truly call ourselves Lutheran? In brief, we answer: using this name indicates nothing else than that we are Christians who believe that the doctrine which was again brought to light in these last times from God's Word through Luther, is the true doctrine… A true Lutheran and a true Christian, the Lutheran Church and the Christian church, God's Word and Luther's doctrine — these are all one and the same to us. Therefore, with joy and confidence we make that well-known verse our proclamation: ‘God's Word and Luther's doctrine, now and forevermore.’ We don't mean by this that Luther spoke and wrote as an apostle from immediate enlightening of the Holy Spirit. But we do want to give witness that Luther's doctrine as we have perceived it is drawn from God's Word and that also through him the reformation of the church was accomplished…
“The Lutheran Church is not restricted to those who from youth have held this name or even to those who took it up later in life. We extend our hand to everyone who submits himself to the written word of God without guile and who carries the true faith in our dear Lord Jesus Christ in his heart and confesses it before the world. We consider such a one as our partner in the faith, as our brother in Christ, as a member of our church, as a Lutheran, no matter in what sect he lies hidden and entangled…”