Lutheranism has spread throughout the world in various ways. As a result, it has become at home in very different cultural contexts. But can there be a "Lutheran identity"? Or are there not rather "Lutheran identities," depending on the character? And what connects them, how does one live in a communion that makes possible numerous expressions of "Lutheran identity," and where are the challenges of this togetherness?

In its struggle for communion that is to be a living church community, the Lutheran World Federation faces these very questions. Reason enough to look for identity markers, for pillars of a common Lutheran identity that have relevance for history, the present and different cultural contexts, linking theology and history.