|
Showing 1 - 13 of
13 matches in All Departments
Luther writes in his Large Catechism: "No greater jewel, therefore,
can adorn our body and soul than baptism, for through it we become
completely holy and blessed, which no other kind of life and no
work on earth can acquire." Of all Christian rituals, baptism, in
its historical, theological and spiritual importance, warrants
constant re-examination and careful dusting in an effort to polish
and present the jewel passed on to us. In No Greater Jewel Luther's
teaching of baptism is unfolded in light of specific issues arising
around Lutheran practices and understanding of baptism today. The
wisdom of Luther's words offers helpful perspectives for spiritual
living and impetus for living with hope and ethical integrity in
this world - inspired by the kind of love Jesus preached and
demonstrated in his life.
In autumn 1525, Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will as a response
to humanist and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam's On Free Will.
Luther's treatise is important on four accounts: First, Luther
wanted to show his own humanist education. Second, against Erasmus,
who had maintained that the question of free will could not be
decided just on the basis of the Bible, Luther stressed the clarity
imbedded in Scripture. Third, Luther stressed that his denial of
the free will pertained to the issue of salvation, while in other
areas of life not relevant for this fundamental existential matter,
free will could be acknowledged. Finally, he introduces the
distinction of the revealed and the hidden God to make clear that a
Christian must focus on God as shown in Jesus Christ rather than
speculating about God's potency in general. Luther's argument on
the matter of the bound and free will poses a challenge and an
invitation for constructive contemporary theology. This volume is
excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, Volume 2. Each volume
in the series contains annotations, illustrations, and notes to
help shed light on Luther's context and to interpret his writings
for today.
With great detail, Kirsi I. Stjerna introduces and annotates
Luther's Large Catechism, which the reformer offered as a radical
reorientation in the matters of theology and spirituality. After
diagnosing what appeared to him as his church's failures to provide
proper spiritual care, Luther set out to offer a new compass for
religious life. The sweeping reforms he proposed took root
primarily through preaching and education as people embraced the
new vision and transmitted it to their children. He believed all
Christian people-laity and clergy-needed a guide to comprehend the
basic biblical, creedal, and sacramental teachings. The order with
which Luther proceeds in the Large Catechism is deliberate, with a
distinct theological rationale; the Commandments express God's
expectations; the Creed proclaims God's promise; the Lord's Prayer
translates law and gospel into a personal discourse with God; and
the sacraments offer tangible expressions of God's grace and signs
to lean on in faith. This volume is excerpted from The Annotated
Luther series, Volume 2.
Encounters with Luther offers in one volume original primary
research from an international and ecumenical pool of scholars. It
examines Luther and Lutheran theological traditions along with
their historical foundations and with a focus on relevant
contemporary issues and ecumenical collegiality. Topics range from
sacraments and marriage to violence and gender and sexuality to
spiritual care, politics, and suffering. Chapters are based on the
annual Luther Colloquy proceedings at Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Gettysburg. The articles represent a diverse range of authors
and methodologies that reward readers with relevant and genuinely
contemporary and practical applications of Luther's thought.
Contributors: B. A. Gerrish, Mary Jane Haemig, Douglass John Hall,
Stanley Hauerwas, Kurt K. Hendel, Hans J. Hillerbrand, Eero
Huovinen, Denis R. Janz, Peter D. S. Krey, Volker Leppin, Carter
Lindberg, Anna Madsen, Mickey L. Mattox, Surekha Nelavala, Brooks
Schramm, Kirsi I. Stjerna, Deanna A. Thompson, Vitor Westhelle, and
John Witte Jr.
The place and significance of Martin Luther in the long history of
Christian anti-Jewish polemic has been and continues to be a
contested issue. The literature on the subject is substantial, and
diverse. While efforts to exonerate Luther as merely a man of his
times who merely perpetuated what he had received from his cultural
and theological tradition have rightly been jettisoned, there still
persists even among the educated public the perception that the
truly problematic aspects of Luthers anti-Jewish attitudes are
confined to the final stages of his career. It is true that Luthers
anti-Jewish rhetoric intensified toward the end of his life, but
reading Luther with a careful eye toward the Jewish question, it
becomes clear that Luthers theological presuppositions toward
Judaism and the Jewish people are a central, core component of his
thought throughout his career, not just at the end. It follows then
that it is impossible to understand the heart and building blocks
of Luthers theology (justification, faith, liberation, salvation,
grace) without acknowledging the crucial role of the Jews in his
fundamental thinking.
Published in Finland in 1983, Two Kinds of Love is the second of
Tuomo Mannermaa's provocative books offering a distinctly different
interpretation of Martin Luther's theology. The other, Christ
Present in Faith, was published by Fortress Press in 2005. In Two
Kinds of Love, Mannermaa unfolds Luther's understanding of love as
the key to the reformer's theology of grace. Human love orients
toward that "which is lovable to it"-- toward that which is already
"good and beautiful"-- and, as such, comes into being only through
"the prestige and glory of the loved one." In contrast, God's love,
which "does not find but creates the lovable in its object," is a
pure gift of grace, which makes possible our love for God and for
one another. Mannermaa spearheaded the Finnish Luther Research
project for more than twenty years, and more than any other is
responsible for the unique perspective on Luther contributed to
Luther scholarship by the Finnish School. Two Kinds of Love
concludes with an afterword, reviewing Finnish Luther Research
since 1977.
Mannermaa's revisionist work on justification in Luther's
theology--a notable contribution from one of the most influential
Finnish scholars of Luther studies-- is now available in English.
His book opens up new interpretive questions for historical
theology with striking implications for ecumenism, ethics, and
spirituality. He writes, "the idea of the divine life in Christ
which is present in faith lies at the very center of the theology
of the Reformer." He argues that later Lutheran interpretation of
this teaching has portrayed justification as more mechanical and
forensic than Luther did, underestimated the extent to which God's
righteousness is also ours, and obscured the radical personal
transformation that Luther attributed to justification.
Volume 2 of The Annotated Luther series contains a number of the
writings categorized under the theme word and faith. Luther was
particularly focused on what the word "does" in order to create and
sustain faith. Writings in the volume range from the large core
documents Bondage of the Will, Against the Heavenly Prophets, The
Smalcald Articles, and Large Catechism to Luther's own Confession
of Faith and treatments of Moses, the Gospels, and Two Kinds of
Righteousness. ln the treatises in this volume, we hear Luther's
understanding of Scripture and theology as he continues his growth
as teaching theologian, pastor, biblical exegete, and apologist for
the faith. Each volume in The Annotated Luther series contains new
introductions, as well as annotations, illustrations, and notes, to
help shed light on Luther's context and interpret his writings for
today. The translations of Luther's writings include updates of
Luther's Works, American Edition or entirely new translations of
Luther's German or Latin writings.
This is an important study of spirituality in a world of confused
and conflicting definitions of “ the spiritual.” Christian
spirituality flows from an understanding of who God is and how God
acts in creation. It is a personal and communal recognition of God
in one's life and a life awareness and celebration of that presence
of God. Anyone who wonders how the Christian faith shapes life will
find a great value in this book.
Nissinen's award-winning book surveys attitudes in the ancient
world toward homoeroticism, that is, erotic same-sex relations.
Focusing on the Bible and its cultural environment-Mesopotamia,
Greece, Rome, Israel-Nissinen concisely and readably introduces the
relevant sources and their historical contexts in a readable way.
Homoeroticism is examined as a part of gender identity, i.e., the
interplay of sexual orientation, gender identification, gender
roles, and sexual practice. In the patriarchal cultures of the
biblical world, Nissinen shows, homoerotic practices were regarded
as a role construction between the active and passive partners
rather than as expressions of an orientation moderns call
"homosexuality." Nissinen shows how this applies to the limited
acceptance of homoerotic relationships in Greek and Roman culture,
as well as to Israel's and the early church's condemnation of any
same-sex erotic activity. For readers interested in the ancient
world or contemporary debates, Nissinen's fascinating study shows
why the ancient texts - both biblical and nonbiblical - are not
appropriate for use as sources of direct analogy or argument in
today's discussion.
|
|