Lutheran Theology And Secular Law

This collection brings together lawyers and theologians in the U.S. and Europe to reflect on Lutheran understandings of the political use of the law by secular governments. The book furthers the intellectual conversation about how Lutheran insights can be used to develop jurisprudence and specific solutions to legal issues in which there is strong conflict. It presents the basic theological and interpretive assumptions of the Lutheran tradition as they may inform the creation of legislation and judicial interpretation at local, national and international levels. The authors explore Luther’s conception of the foundations of modern secular law and understanding of vocation. The work discusses the application of Lutheran theological principles to contemporary issues such as the war on terror, native land rights, property law, family law, church and state, medical experimentation, and the criminal law of rape, providing ethical insights for lawyers and lawmakers.

This volume puts forth an unprecedented, distinctive Lutheran take on the intersection of law and religion in our society today. On Secular Governance gathers the collaborative reflections of legal and theological scholars on a range of subjects — women’s issues, property law and the environment, immigration reform, human trafficking, church-state questions, and more — all addressed from uniquely Lutheran points of view.

First published in 1983, Principles of Lutheran Theology has guided students into theological reflection on the landmarks of Christian faith as understood in the Lutheran confessional heritage for a generation. The book sets forth the main principles of classical Lutheran theology but with an eschatological accent. Canon, confession, ecumenicity, Christ-centeredness, sacrament, law/ gospel, and two kingdoms are all examined not only in terms of their original meaning and historical development but also in light of current reflections. In this new edition, Braaten takes stock of the research and reflection of the last twenty-five years and also adds a chapter on the distinctive, Archimedean Lutheran insight into the hiddenness of God as a fount or ground of all theologizing. This new edition, cross-referenced to key readings in Luther's Works and The Book of Concord, will both equip and facilitate the search for a contemporary articulation of Christian identity in light of the church's historic commitments.

In the 21st century, Lutheran theology takes place on a global level. Just as the Lutheran communion has spread into all parts of the world, so also theology is now practised in a variety of linguistic and cultural contexts. For this reason, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), in cooperation with the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation, is starting a series of English translations of current VELKD publications. The first volume contains five texts by well-known German theologians on core topics of the Lutheran Church: Theology (Michael Roth), Worship (Christian Lehnert), Congregations (Martin Kumlehn), Ecumenism (Bernd Oberdorfer) and Church Law (Hendrik Munsonius). [Was bedeutet Lutherisch? Beiträge zu Theologie, Gottesdienst, Gemeinde, Ökumene und Kirchenrecht] Lutherische Theologie im 21. Jahrhundert ist global. So, wie die lutherische Gemeinschaft auf der ganzen Welt vertreten ist, so wird heute auch Theologie in einer Vielzahl sprachlicher und kultureller Kontexte getrieben. Aus diesem Grund eröffnet die Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands in Kooperation mit dem Deutschen Nationalkomitee des Lutherischen Weltbundes eine Reihe mit englischen Übersetzungen aktueller VELKD-Publikationen. Den Auftakt macht in diesem Band eine Zusammenstellung von fünf Texten bekannter deutscher Theologen zu Kernthemen der Kirche aus lutherischer Perspektive: Theologie (Michael Roth), Gottesdienst (Christian Lehnert), Gemeinde (Martin Kumlehn), Ökumene (Bernd Oberdorfer) und Kirchenrecht (Hendrik Munsonius).

In an age marked by controversy over public support of religious schools, federal encouragement of religious providers of social services, and sexuality education, the whole arena of church-state relations appears in flux. In this volume, seven experts probe the meaning of religion in public life for Christians when the "Protestant establishment" has given way to pervasive religious pluralism and a growing secularism. Working specifically out of Lutheran traditions, the authors probe the deeper legal, moral, and religious questions at issue in the current debate. They not only rethink classical sources about law and gospel and two-kingdoms theory but also resurrect neglected resources for Christian civil resistance. They then look to contemporary developments and show how functional interaction of church and state is compatible with their strong institutional separation. Finally, three chapters probe the most hotly contested First Amendment questions: religious liberty, education, and land use.

The Lutheran Reformation of the early sixteenth century brought about immense and far-reaching change in the structures of both church and state, and in both religious and secular ideas. This book investigates the relationship between the law and religious ideology in Luther's Germany, showing how they developed in response to the momentum of Lutheran teachings and influence. Profound changes in the areas of education, politics and marriage were to have long-lasting effects on the Protestant world, inscribed in the legal systems inherited from that period. John Witte, Jr. argues that it is not enough to understand the Reformation either in theological or in legal terms alone but that a perspective is required which takes proper account of both. His book should be essential reading for scholars and students of church history, legal history, Reformation history, and in adjacent areas such as theology, ethics, the law, and history of ideas.

Shaped by five hundred years of Lutheran impact and with a strong influence of big majority churches, Scandinavian secularity is a very interesting and fruitful material for the historical and contemporary theoretical debate on the secular. It can be discussed, for example, whether the strong position of Human Rights and of the Scandinavian welfare state might be interpreted in continuity with the historical influence of Protestant traditions. Is there something like a hidden sacrality implicit in the Scandinavian secular?

Caspar David Friedrich's painting on the cover of this book is a metaphor: Scholarly relations between law & religion seemed to be destroyed through modernity. The book however argues for new life in the ruins. --