Below is the rest of the section on the possibility of a council from Martin Bucer's 1535 letter to Bullinger and Leo Jud. The new material begins with "If the Lord has accomplished such things...". Bucer on a Council Concerning a council: A long time ago, under the...
Martin Luther
“Our Dear Lord Still Changes Water into Wine”: Luther on the Estate of Marriage
The appointed Gospel reading for this past Sunday was John 2:1-11, on the wedding at Cana. It is remarkable that Christ chose to work his first miracle at the celebration of a wedding, thus honoring and dignifying marriage and the domestic estate. The high calling of,...
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...
Pure Christ, One Hundred Proof: Another Poem on Luther for Reformation Day
Reformation Day was yesterday, so for this week's "Melanchthon Monday" we have another poem on Luther by Melanchthon. This one is an epitaph, only two lines long. Melanchthon also wrote both a Greek and a Latin version; I have translated the Latin. I have taken a...
The Woke Non-Gospel at the Chappelle Netflix Protests
“Repent” or “do penance”?
Martin Luther and Tax: A Protestant Perspective on Redistributive Taxation
The redistributive grammar of Luther;s theology of the Lord’s Supper underlie his vision for poor relief.
Inhabiting the Places of Promise: Martin Luther’s Teaching on the Three Institutions
A focus on Luther’s “two kingdoms” theology often neglects his views on the “three estates” of church, household, and state.
The Neglected Craft: Prudence in Reformed Political Thought
Aristotle described politics as involving art or craft (techne). It, too, required skill. It, too, could produce excellent, even wondrous edifices: regimes. Once upon a time, the Reformed tradition saw politics in the same manner. Althusius, for example, spoke of “the art of governing.”[1] Joseph Caryl, a Westminster Divine, described rulers as engaging in an “art” or a “craft.” These thinkers, moreover, developed this artistry, doing so consciously within a Reformed framework.
Calvin’s Luther: Unity and Continuity in Protestantism
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] John Calvin: More Lutheran or Zwinglian? Everybody knows that Calvin was closer to Zurich than to Wittenberg. What this essay presupposes is: Maybe he wasn't? In fact, Calvin was neither Zwinglian nor Lutheran in the...
The Gospel Embodied: Luther’s Theology of the Lord’s Supper
Martin Luther sought above all to understand God’s self-revelation in the gospel, and how men and women are to grasp this revelation. In the gospel Luther discovered a God who comes to us. God condescends to us to meet us in our need as Savior and gives himself for...