Musical Offerings ⦁ 2021 ⦁ Volume 12 ⦁ Number 2 55 The Lutheran Church also held different theological beliefs than the Catholic Church. Luther’s primary concern about Catholicism was their belief in “indulgences.” Luther realized that this “preaching was not leading to a reformation of lives and communities but was rather allowing for license and depravity to proceed unchecked.”22 Lutherans firmly believed that the central message of the Bible should be the center of their theology: “Human beings can’t get right with God by anything they do, by any human merit or meritorious acts at all; God justifies us by grace alone through faith.”23 This was a blatant stance against the Roman Catholic Church, which preached that good works and indulgences could improve one’s eternity. Along with their view of God’s goodness and saving grace, Lutherans believed creation to be an important gift and considered worship a way to engage with it.24 The foundation of Luther’s beliefs was that music is the most natural form of worship because it can carry words and be used as a form of praise.25 Not only was worship through music a way to connect with God, but it helped to foster congregational strength and unity.26 This was accomplished both by providing a way to endure hard times and increasing boldness to share the Gospel with others. As a result, Lutheran Churches favored music of all kinds due to its power in both drawing the congregation together in fellowship and pointing them to Christ. The beliefs that Lutherans held regarding musical worship closely affected the routines they quickly adopted in their Sunday services. Martin Luther himself did not oversee or manage every Evangelical church; he believed that the new church should not be limited by strict rules. As a result, he left Lutheran Churches free to borrow from other liturgies, maintain the habits of the Latin mass, or create their own new liturgy as they felt led.27 In a Lutheran service, the “congregational chorales or hymns were mostly sung without instrumental accompaniment, by the congregation in unison, or occasionally by the choir with simple polyphonic harmonization.”28 Even from the beginning of the Reformation between 1517 and 1524, the use of wind instruments with chorale motets or along with choral music was 22 Van Neste and Garrett, 57. 23 Westermeyer, 141. 24 Witte and Wheeler, 77. 25 Westermeyer, 145. 26 Van Neste and Garrett, 143. 27 Dowley, 87. 28 Dowley, 89.
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