Martin Luther The Preservation Of The Church 1532 1546

Exacting scholarship and balanced judgement of this biography will help ensure its place as the definitive work of its kind.

In this definitive study, the author accomplishes two important tasks. First, he contrasts the theological perspectives of earlier biographies with the results of more modern research into Luther's socio-economic context, psychological relationshps, late medieval and humanist thought, university curricula, and political factors. Second, in keeping with his theory that the historical discipline "must make its results accessible to a wider audience" unless it wishes to encourage the "historical amnesia which it so often laments", the author communicates the findings of technical Reformation scholarship to the public in a comprehensible style. -- Book jacket.

In this definitive study, the author accomplishes two important tasks. First, he contrasts the theological perspectives of earlier biographies with the results of more modern research into Luther's socio-economic context, psychological relationshps, late medieval and humanist thought, university curricula, and political factors. Second, in keeping with his theory that the historical discipline "must make its results accessible to a wider audience" unless it wishes to encourage the "historical amnesia which it so often laments", the author communicates the findings of technical Reformation scholarship to the public in a comprehensible style. -- Book jacket.

We tend to remember hymns one at a time. They color our lives, transmit our theology, and form our faith. We forget that the reason we can do so is because they have been made available throughout the centuries in hymnals. This edited collection explores the 500-year tradition of Lutheran hymnal production, illustrating how these books have influenced Lutheran faith and worship practice over time. Editor Robin A. Leaver has assembled a notable team of contributors from across the wider Lutheran church. Each chapter draws readers into the history and contributions of one or more landmark hymnals, ranging from the first books published during Luther's lifetime to volumes that have shaped the dimensions of the contemporary Lutheran church in the United States. Chapter authors include Leaver, Paul Grime, Markus Rathey, Joseph Hurl, Dianne M. McMullen, Jon D. Vieker, Paul Westermeyer, Mark A. Granquist, Daniel Zager, and Gracia Grindal.

The Reformation-era writings that make up the Lutheran Confessions remain lively resources for Christian ministry and mission today. Because each of the documents within the Book of Concord was written with a specific context and rhetorical purpose in mind, each has its own compelling story and objectives. Luther’s catechisms present the faith for daily life at the grass-roots level, with teaching elements that we might now view as typical of social media and multimedia. The Augsburg Confession and its Apology provide an adaptable foundation for preaching, teaching, church organization, and dialogue that is rooted in the promise of Christ, received through faith. Fifteen years after the Diet of Worms, the Smalcald Articles reveal yet another “Here I stand” moment for Luther. Finally, the Formula of Concord shows how the next generations of Lutherans used collaboration and consensus as they wrestled with important themes of faith and life. In summary, as these texts engage us with their stories, they invite us to consider what is most important about our journeys of faith and Christian witness in today’s twenty-first-century contexts.

Luther's critics have consistently charged him as an irrationalist and pessimist concerning reason's capabilities, and even by his followers as a fideist who sees little or no relationship between faith and reason. In this book, David Andersen offers a fresh and timely re-evaluation of Luther and his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason based upon a thorough engagement with Luther's mature writings. Dr. Andersen persuasively argues that, far from being either an irrationalist or a fideist, Luther stands within an empiricist tradition and that his pronouncements on fallen human reason can be understood only from that philosophical perspective. Based upon recent research into the writings of William of Ockham, who positively influenced Luther in this area, Dr. Andersen also shows that Luther can no longer be charged as a pessimist concerning human knowledge. Reason has an important role to play for Luther in bringing one to faith, and the objectivity of Christ's resurrection serves as that focal point that validates all Christian discourse. In subordinating itself to the facts of the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, reason's created function is restored to some extent as it receives that forgiveness in the words of Holy Scripture and the visible means of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Martin LutherÕs importance in the history of the doctrine of Scripture is universally acknowledged. However, many modern studies of this aspect of LutherÕs thought are colored by attempts to acquire him for one side or other of the contemporary theological debate. Luther has been variously painted as a fundamentalist, the forerunner of biblical criticism, a pragmatist, and even a proto-existentialist. Karl BarthÕs idiosyncratic appropriation of the reformer in the first volume of his Church Dogmatics has been particularly influential. This study attempts a fresh examination of the most significant of LutherÕs comments on the nature and use of Scripture, locating each in its literary and historical context. It explores a series of connections in LutherÕs thought, analyzing his scattered statements in terms of four categories reflected in his own terminology: inspiration (inspiratio), unity (tota scriptura), clarity (claritas scripturae), and sufficiency (sola scriptura). In particular, it seeks to identify those elements that enable Luther to move with confidence between his statements about the authority of Scripture and his interpretive method.