Historically in Lutheranism there have been two parties regarding Eucharistic adoration: Gnesio-Lutherans, who followed Martin Luther’s view in favor of adoration, and Philippists who followed Philipp Melanchthon’s view against it. Although Luther did not entirely approve of the* Feast of Corpus Christi,[51] he wrote a treatise “The Adoration of the Sacrament*” (Von anbeten des sakraments des heyligen leychnahms Christi, 1523) where he defended adoration but desired that the issue not be forced. In his reform of the Roman Mass Luther placed the Sanctus after the Institution Narrative to serve as a solemn act of worship of the Real Presence just brought about by the latter. After the death of Martin Luther, further controversies developed including Crypto-Calvinism and the second Sacramentarian controversy, started by Gnesio-Lutheran Joachim Westphal. The Philippist understanding of the Real Presence without overt adoration through time became dominant in Lutheranism, although it is not in accordance with Luther’s teaching. The German theologian Andreas Musculus can be regarded as one of the warmest defenders of Eucharistic adoration in early Lutheranism.
