'Martin Luther: "confessional" theologian', The Expository Times 126 (2014), pp. 53-6. (original) (raw)

MARTIN LUTHER: HOW HIS RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL SETTINGS INFLUENCED HIS THEOLOGY

2019

It will be terrible to assume that, Luther just came ‘out of the blue’ and carry the flag of the Reformation course which he effectively delivered. Though few have denied any kind of influence upon him by either the Religious ideas of his time or the Intellectual setting within which he was brought up. However, in this short paper I deem it fit to investigate both the religious and intellectual setting of Luther, to point out how he was indeed influenced by them, and how because of this influence he was able to reconstruct the task of a “true theologian” and what a “true theology” should be (or is).

The Search for Luther's Place in the Reformation

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 1994

La Foi des e'glises luthe'riennes. Confessions et cale'chismes. Edited by Andre Birmele and Marc Lienhard. Pp. 605. Paris: Editions du Cerf/Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1991. Fr. 249. 2 204 04066 5 (Cerf); 2 8309 0611 X (Labor et Fides) Martin Luther und die Reformation in Ostdeutschland und Siidosteuropa. Wirkungen und Wechselwirkungen. Edited by Ulrich Hutter with Hans-Giinther Parplies.

Martin Luther – The Problem of Faith and Reason

Christian Philosophy today, 2009

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.

'Old questions, new answers? Luther and the problem of catholicity'

Reformation 17 (2012), 161-76

Luther's omission of the word 'catholic' from his German translations of the creedal article on the Church have led many to suppose that he had little time for the concept of catholicity. A survey of vernacular devotional literature on the eve of the Reformation shows however that he was merely respecting traditional translation practice, and a study of his polemical writings in 1518-19 demonstrates that a strong concept of catholicity underpinned his critique of the Roman Church.

Perspectives on the missiological legacy of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Missiology: An International Review, 45(4), (2017): 374-395. , 2017

Upon the occasion of the 500th anniversary Martin Luther's publication of his 95 theses, this composite article brings together five perspectives on the missiological legacy of the reformer and the subsequent Protestant Reformation. The blend of voices makes clear that Luther and the subsequent Protestant Reformation do not have a simple missiological legacy but rather various legacies: theological, ecclesiological, political, and practical; some of which co-exist, and even collide, in the