Abstract:
The thesis aims to investigate how the interdenominational relationship between the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, at the ecclesiastical-denominational level, can contribute to a fraternal dialogue in the diversity between them. Both share the same evangelical Lutheran confessional tradition, whose roots go back half a millennium ago. Furthermore, both churches have a community base made up mostly of descendants of immigrants who arrived in Brazil since the first decades of the century before last. Therefore, the historical development of the two denominations was observed from the context of their origins, through a documentary and bibliographical analysis of the stories of History, from the perspective of a contextualization of the encounters and disagreements that took place in the past, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, where they began, from a historical, cultural, political and theological perspective, with a brief emphasis on the development of their confessionalities. The annals of the Interlutheran Dialogue Commission (CID) and the National Interlutheran Conferences, promoted by the CID, were analyzed, the “encounters and disagreements” that occurred, observing in them some aspects and emphases present in the dialogues and actions, which may have influenced the continuity of these initiatives. The personal aspect of church leaders and the discontinuity of administrative policies, as well as the actions of governing bodies, influenced understandings, hindering efforts to advance dialogues. Leaders of the two churches that participated in these actions were also identified, describing their public testimonies about the results achieved in these events and possible paths to follow. To achieve this, we sought to understand the concept of “Reconciled Diversity”, which does not seek administrative, doctrinal or liturgical uniformity, but tries to seek a fraternal dialogue between denominations with their identities, observing possible psychological, sociological, historical, theological and confessional aspects that can influence the dynamics of dialogues between different people. The concept can enable Churches to mutually recognize their similarities, as well as the meaning of differences, without it being necessary to achieve complete uniformity in the forms of expression with the ecclesiastical doctrine itself. This led the research to examine the common confessional heritage of the two churches, as being a bridge and not an obstacle to fraternal dialogue, where adverse positions can be significant ways of assuming and experiencing the Gospel. Dialogues between Lutherans and Catholics and inter-Lutherans were also analyzed, which demonstrated that a church does not need to distance itself from its doctrinal statements, for fraternal dialogue, since unification is not sought. Thus, existing differences between churches could lose their divisive character and dialogues could serve more to understand each other than to measure each other's beliefs and doctrines.
