Protestantism in Germany
[5] The lasting effects of Luther's Protestant movement within Germany was to question its existing power structures, imploring lay nobles for church reformation, critiquing the Roman mass, sacraments and seeking to reaffirm the importance of faith in good works.
Another prominent reformer, Martin Bucer, introduced the rite of communion to German Protestantism and promoted Protestant unity, ensuring the anti-Baptist sect re-joined the wider church.
[6] In the early 1500s, the Holy Roman Empire led by Charles V treated German Protestantism as a competitor to its geo-political power, issuing a decree in 1524 banning the recitation of its Lutheran works.
[7] Conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire, resolved by the 1548 Council of Trent, maintained a lack of concessions to the German Protestants, and country-wide riots ensured it was not accepted.
[9] In the early 20th century, anti-Semitic writings of Martin Luther were used by some Protestant pastors and Nazi leaders to bolster their political movement.
[10] Protestant pastors, bishops and theologians utilised Luther's writings, such as Von den Juden and ihren Lügen (On the Jews and Their Lies), to reaffirm the anti-Jewish prejudice escalating in Germany.
[6] In the initial years of communist rule, despite pressure on pastors to endorse the new form of government, the Protestant church insisted on remaining impartial.
[13] The Communist Party, however, grew hostile to the church, moving to replace the festival of Christmas with celebrations of the birthday of Joseph Stalin, along with the jailing of more than 70 Evangelical pastors and lay workers from January 1953.
[12] In terms of political affiliations throughout the German Democratic Republic era, members of the Protestant Church ranged from far-left Stalinists to anti-communist conservatives.
[15] The Lutheran literature dispersed throughout Germany after the Reformation called for the elimination of clerical tax exemptions and the economic privileges granted to religious institutions.
[21] In the immediate post-Reformation and subsequent decades, the Lutheran principle of sola scriptura prompted followers of the religion to promote the Bible, and the act of reading.
[23] Lutheran Church teachings on the standards for the education of students were published in 1529, emphasising the study of grammar, definitions and the Latin language.
By the 19th century, German universities were recognised as leading the Western world, with Protestant theology globally influenced by Friedrich Schleiermacher, Ernst Troeltsch, Julius Wellhausen and Adolf von Harnack.
[6] Within the GDR in the 1980s, the Church maintained Protestant theological faculties in six of the state universities in Berlin (Halle, Leipzig, Jena, Greifswald, and Rostock) funded by the Communist budget.
[7] In order to curb this dispersion, the 16th-century Council of Trent compiled an Index of Prohibited Books in 1559, which included the works of Protestant theologians and those who desired reform within the Church.
[25] The Protestant leadership in Germany is divided on the issue of stem cell research; however, those opposing liberalising laws have characterised it as a threat to the sanctity of human life.
The 20th century saw the creation of new Protestant organisations, such as the Evangelical Alliance, YMCA, and the German Student Christian movement, whose active participation involved church adherents from other nations.
