Perspectives on the missiological legacy of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation (original) (raw)

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.

Luther and the Reformation of the Later Middle Ages. Eric Leland Saak. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. xii + 400 pp. $120

Renaissance Quarterly, 2019

Rublack is kinder to Calvin than many writers. One passage, introducing a section titled "A Religion of the Word," seems to sum up Rublack's underlying contention: "An everyday Protestantism evolved for which the biblical word was central, but which did not equate to a religion principally shaped by cognitive engagements of logocentric or individualized minds. Faith continued to be experienced through the body, the emotions, in relation to others and the material world" (175). In short, Protestant faiths tapped the same feelings, the same indispensable communal identities, and the same rootedness in the world as their Catholic predecessor. Ordinary lay people could have their religion no other way. They were not as radically changed as theologians hoped. In this assertion, Rublack affirms the position of the late Bob Scribner, to whom she pays tribute in the acknowledgments. The brief bibliographic recommendations that conclude this book bear witness to Rublack's recognition of-and I would add her participation in-the innovative scholarship of the last decade. The suggestions for further reading contained in the first edition are staid by comparison.

An Examination and critique of Luthers Ecclessiology

This paper is an examination of Martin Luther’s ecclesiology. Examined precisely will be his understanding of the relationship between the Word and the Church, his interpretation of comunio sanctorum, his concept of the Two Kingdoms and how this concept influences or flows from and through his ecclesiology. Lastly is a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of Luther’s ecclesiological doctrine whilst comparing scholar’s thoughts. In closing I have found that Luther’s ecclesiology is mostly strong, for he appeals to the traditions of the ecumenical councils to prove he is being consistent with their position within the historical Church perspective. Whilst his Church doctrine does have some weaknesses concerning the areas of mission, evangelism, eschatology and the lack of a well thought out Episcopal system, overall Luther’s doctrine of the Church is hard to fault, so far as the core matters of salvation or community are concerned.

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

The beginning and later growth of the Protestant Reformation of the 16 th century was seen as a new challenge to religious authority that went beyond the Roman Catholic Church. Many viewed it as a threat to the whole social structure of society, from the monarch on down. As protest and dissent against the Church began to increase, several individuals would rise to prominence in Europe. These men would lead the Reformation and at the same time create a new religious structure within Christendom.

Pillar or outcome? Luther's practical theological aim and its theopaschitical implications

An often misunderstood element in Luther’s Theology was the combination of its anti-scholastical, practical aim (“vera theologia est practica”) with its highly theoretical outcome. A reason for it might be found it the increasing role of such outcome, which at a given point seemed to have turned into a proper pillar of his own Theology. An example of this (at least apparent) contradiction is provided by the Christological background of the anti-roman doctrine of the Justification as fröhlicher Wechsel/admirabile commercium, which, due to its particular interpretation of the Doctrine of the so-called communicatio idiomatum, lead to the consistent, and nonetheless rejected formulation of a Doctrine of the Theopaschy. Aim of this paper is to sketch such consistent background, its development in the controversies of the second half of the 16th Century, as well as the attempt to save this peculiar element beside the Christological controversies, deriving it no longer from the Christological Doctrine of communicatio idiomatum, but rather from the one of so-called status exinanitionis et exaltationis, keeping a look on its originally practical aim.

The Daughter of the Word: What Luther Learned from the Early Church and the Fathers

Perichoresis

All the major sixteenth-century Reformers knew something about the early church and used the early Fathers. As an Augustinian monk and professor of theology, however, Luther’s knowledge and use of the great Father was both deeper and more nuanced. While indebted to Augustine, Luther went further in defining what it meant for theology to be ‘scriptural’. He saw history as the interaction of God’s two regimes, and the church of every age as weak and flawed but conquering through the cross of Christ. This led him to a free use of the Fathers without being constrained to always agree with or imitate them. The comfort he received from the Apostles’ Creed in particular led him to appreciate the early creedal statements, and so it was natural for him to use them as models when formulating the new confessions required in his own day. The sixteenth-century heritage of written confessions of faith is a heritage under-appreciated but still vital for church bodies today.1