This week for "Melanchthon Monday," we once again...aren't getting Melanchthon. Instead, here are the next three stanzas (G, H, I) of Sedulius's hymn A solis ortus cardine. The first stanza (G) would have been particularly appropriate for last week, which was Gaudete...
Upbuilding Discourses
“Purity of heart is to blog one thing.” -E.J. Hutchinson
Bucer to Bullinger (2): On the Holy Supper
Part 1, along with some introductory remarks, is here; but I've also included the first paragraph of the translation in this post so that the argument is easier to follow. Bucer to Bullinger on the Lord's Supper Concerning your confession: When you make the dispute a...
Bucer to Bullinger (1): On the Holy Supper
Recently, while trying to figure out a few things about the textual history of Martin Luther's 1535 Galatians commentary, I stumbled across an excerpt from a contemporary (i.e., 1535) letter from Martin Bucer to Heinrich Bullinger that mentions the commentary. When I...
The Philosophical Absurdity of the Incarnation: Luther, Augustine, and Auden
In Martin Luther's Disputation concerning the Passage: "The Word Was Made Flesh" (1539) we find the following thesis (2): In theologia verum est, verbum esse carnem factum, in philosophia simpliciter impossibile et absurdum.In theology it is true that the Word was...
“Domained in Mary’s Modesty”: A Fifth-Century Hymn (2)
Last week I translated the first three stanzas of Sedulius's abecedarian hymn A solis ortus cardine (A, B, C). For this week, I've done the next three (D, E, F). I've included the first three as well, and will plan to continue that practice in the future, adding the...
Eyes and Ears in Luther (Again)
Once more on Luther's House Postil sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent. Last week we looked at the way in which Luther's account of "reason" (eyes) and "faith" (ears) informed his view of the Triumphal Entry and his sacramentology. But this basic insight is not,...
“God Has Written This Article of the Resurrection in Trees”: Luther on the Second Coming and Eternal Summer
In an ongoing effort to get people to read this essay, I continue to catalog instances of historical figures who agree with meeeeeeeeeeeeeee and the essay's thesis. A little over a month ago I gave a bit of Minucius Felix's Octavius in support. Here's another one,...
Augustine’s Cicero
Today, December 7, is the anniversary of the death of the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero. He was important in his own day, of course, but has also been equally, if not more, important in his afterlife. One of his great postmortem accomplishments was converting...
“In Order Flesh by Flesh to Free”: A Fifth-Century Hymn (1)
For Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, I think I'm going to change things up slightly for "Melanchthon Monday." For the next several weeks, I want to turn our attention to one of the two surviving hymns from the hand of the fifth century biblical epic poet Sedulius....
Reason and Faith in Luther
Once more on Luther's House Postil sermon for the First Sunday in Advent before we move on. Luther is often misunderstood, and almost as often caricatured (in an "oops I just stepped on a rake" sort of way), on the character and role of reason. This post won't fix...