Neo-Lutherans

religious group

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July 1, 2026

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Neo-Lutherans emerged in 19th-century Germany as a revivalist movement within Lutheranism. Influenced by Romanticism and a reaction against the Enlightenment, they sought to restore ancient liturgical traditions and emphasize the importance of sacraments and the church. This group believed that true religion, as understood through Pietism, was essentially a properly understood Lutheranism. They distinguished themselves from "Old Lutherans" or "Repristinationists" by focusing on the church, ministry, and sacraments, and were a significant force in Lutheran churches and theology from the 1840s to the 1870s.1

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Protestantism
Germany
A second group, the Neo-Lutherans, felt that the Repristinationists or “Old Lutherans,” though not wrong, needed correction and improvement especially in their view of the church, the ministry, and the sacraments. These Neo-Lutherans, influenced by Romanticism, were the German counterpart of the Oxford Movement in England. The chief exponents…
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A second group, the Neo-Lutherans, felt that the Repristinationists or “Old Lutherans,” though not wrong, needed correction and improvement especially in their view of the church, the ministry, and the sacraments. These Neo-Lutherans, influenced by Romanticism, were the German counterpart of the Oxford Movement in England. The chief exponents…
Read More