THE VARIOUS CHURCHES.
While the Church, in the strict sense of the word, is the "communion of
saints" and therefore _one_, yet outwardly it has become divided, in the
course of time, into many different churches, denominations, and sects.
It contains Four Great Branches: _The Greek Catholic Church_; _The Roman
Catholic Church_; _The Evangelical Lutheran Church_; and _The Reformed
Churches_, comprising a great number of denominations and sects. The
Lutheran Church and the Reformed Churches are called Protestant. (For
the names and relations of various branches of the Church, see the
accompanying Diagram, on page 106.)
THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is in reality the old original Church
which came into existence on the day of Pentecost. Luther simply threw
out the errors which had crept into the Church during the course of the
centuries, and held fast the doctrines taught in God's Word. As a
separate and distinct Church, the Lutheran Church dates from the year
1530, when the Augsburg Confession was read before the emperor and diet
of the German Empire.
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