ABSTRACT
Johann Sebastian Bach was born and brought up within the Lutheran Church and he remained a member for the whole of his life. Apart from just five and a half years, his professional life was engaged in service to the church. However, the Lutheran church of the eighteenth century was neither the church of the Reformation per se-though many have thought that it remained substantially unchanged from Luther’s day-nor was it the same as the German Protestantism of the later nineteenth century-though this was a common impression conveyed in early Bach studies. More recent research has sought to reveal and understand, from printed and archival sources, the cross-currents of thought and practice within the Lutheran Church of Bach’s time. This chapter explores aspects of the Bach family’s connection with the church, Bach’s relationships with the clergy of the churches he either attended or served, especially in his formative years, and presents an evaluation of Bach as a Lutheran churchman.
