Martin Luther (incl. Luther’s Writings)

[1] Lutheran ethics remains untouched by the vaunted “return to virtue ethics” in contemporary Christian ethics. The pursuit of virtue smacks of “works righteousness;” it registers as one more attempt to ascend the ladder of spiritual perfection. Martin Luther saved his most savage critique for Aristotle and Aquinas, traditional figures associated with virtue ethics. It […]

[1] Philip Mellor and Chris Shilling, in the book Re-forming the Body, state that the human body, in medieval times, was marked by volatility. The struggles for survival, the threat of violence and disease, and the scarcity of goods (food, clothing, or shelter) could lead to death. Magic and superstition were aids to knowledge. Body […]

[1] Lutherans, insofar as they derive their theology from Luther, should welcome Pope Benedict’s Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. Luther, I think, would find this latest word from the Vatican surprisingly congenial. [2] Benedict argues from Scripture and presents his ideas pastorally, making the encyclical accessible to those with no formal theological training-both points that should […]

Edited by Timothy J. Wengert. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004. 260 pp. [1] This impressive collection of essays by leading Lutheran theologians and Reformation historians represents the state-of-the-art in current Luther scholarship. Originally published in Lutheran Quarterly these essays now appear under a single title in Eerdmans’ new and promising series, Lutheran Quarterly Books. […]

Witte discusses (1) the distinctions between the fallen realm and the redeemed realm, the City of Man and the City of God, the Reign of the Devil and the Reign of Christ; (2) the distinctions between the sinner and the saint, the flesh and the spirit, the inner man and the outer man; (3) the […]

[1] In recent months I have had several conversations with colleagues in various aspects of church work about their experiences balancing family life and vocational obligations. Two particular scenarios stand out sharply. In one instance a friend and I discussed exhortations (or was it reprimands?) we had received from childless persons about not allowing our […]

[1] Schools in the United States face a multiplicity of challenges, from gaining adequate funds to hiring well-qualified and dedicated teachers to meeting the ever-increasing obligations of state-mandated testing to determining policy about such complex issues as bi-lingual education. In a nation of extraordinary religious, cultural and ethnic diversity, does Martin Luther, writing in the […]

[1] I have been asked to discuss resources in the Lutheran tradition that might undergird resistance to neo-liberal globalization.1 This paper explores four interrelated theological streams running through the work of Martin Luther.2 They are his eucharistic economic ethics, his theology of Christ indwelling creation, his refusal to minimize the pervasiveness of sin in human […]

[1] It is fitting, if frustrating, to find myself working on this article while my pre-adolescent child is throwing a prolonged fit over her mother’s inability to accommodate one more companion animal in the household. I am a divorced single parent, currently getting a snootful about my maternal shortcomings. It comes with the territory of […]

Abstract: In this paper I outline what is essential for Luther’s understanding of a pure doctrine of faith as articulated primarily in his treatise titled The Bondage of the Will (1525). Luther’s response to Erasmus’ text titled An Examination of Free Will (1524) makes it clear that in their relationship to God, human beings have […]