Martin Luther (incl. Luther’s Writings)

[1] As we head towards Reformation Sunday, this issue of JLE presents four articles on how understanding Luther’s teachings calls us to consider our ethical responsibilities. These four articles were research presentations in the “Luther and Religion” seminar within the 14th International Congress for Luther Research held at California Lutheran University in 2022.  I am […]

  We must know that we are not only welcome at this meal; we are this meal.…God, great Mother/Father/[Spirit] God, move through the elements prepared today….Break this bread in our hearts, so that we will know the urgency of speaking as queer Christians….Give us the breath and blood of people who can witness the welcome […]

Mary Lowe’s article asserts that many Christians find reading about Biblical acceptance makes them more accepting of others with differences as well.  She suggests that Lutherans might find a deeper study of Luther’s theology to be similarly liberating.  This issue suggests ways that a look at Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms might help a reader […]

Introduction [1] [1] Holy Communion matters for Lutherans. It is central to who we understand ourselves to be as Christians. Lutherans believe and teach that the Lord’s Supper is not simply bread and wine eaten in a reenactment of the Last Supper, but, as Martin Luther teaches in The Large Catechism, “it is bread and […]

Introduction[1] [1] The imminent climate crisis makes questions regarding our relationship with the creator and the created reality to which we belong extremely important. It presses us to consider what it means to believe in God, the creator, and what it means to be created in the image of our creator. These questions are pressing, […]

[1] In my experience as a scholar and teacher of American constitutional law, I have frequently resorted to our Lutheran tradition as a guide for understanding why we place emphasis on, and how we distinctively understand, concepts such as the rule of law and the separation of church and state.  In American constitutional classes, we […]

[1] Christine Helmer’s book How Luther Became the Reformer is not a typical history of Martin Luther. At its core, the book is an examination of historical interpretations of Luther. [2] Helmer is a professor of the Humanities and German at Northwestern University. Her areas of study include Martin Luther, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and the Luther […]

[1] Miikka Roukanen, professor at Nanjing Theological Seminary, argues that Luther’s account of God’s creation of faith in the believer, and subsequent justification and sanctification, is fully Trinitarian in nature.  I want to be clear from the outset that this review cannot do justice to the carefully grounded, and intricate arguments made in the book. […]

“We do theology because we want to collaborate fundamentally in bringing about a different kind of world in the here-and-now.”   –M. Shawn Copeland   Vocations and Challenges to Vocation  [1] Can you recall a time when you felt truly welcomed and accepted? Can you remember a moment when you brought the fullness of yourself to […]

[1] Martin Luther’s doctorate in theology, earned at the University of Wittenberg on October 19, 1512, granted him, as it did to all who earned the degree, the license to uphold church teaching and preside over disputations by either writing the theses in one’s role as “opponens” or to participate in them as “respondens.” Luther […]