This post is part of an ongoing series on the history of communion. The Reformation Church With the outbreak of theological reforms in the 16th century came considerable revisions and specifications of the theologies and practices of Communion. Essentially, five major views solidified: Tridentine, Consubstantial, Reformed, Via Media, and Memorialist.
Islam and its relationship with Christianity remains a subject very much on the minds of many in today’s world. Indeed, for much of the past fifteen years the Western world and its media has routinely faced the question, “What is Islam and how does it affect us?” What few people seem to understand, however, isContinue reading “Book Review: A History of Christian-Muslim Relations (Goddard)”
Martin Luther Martin Luther remains one of the most influential men in Western History, as his attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church sparked nearly 500 years of debate and division within Western Christianity. It has been said that more has been written about Luther than any other person aside from Jesus of Nazareth, asContinue reading “Readings from Martin Luther”
This is the final post in our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post summarizes the perspectives of Oberman, Hendrix, and Kolb on Martin Luther, and offers some concluding remarks. After this series on the Historical Martin Luther, we are left with some questions: Which of the works that we have surveyed best describes andContinue reading “The Historical Luther: Conclusions”
This post is part of our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post examines Oberman, Hendrix, and Kolb’s respective positions concerning Luther’s “Reformation Breakthrough.” Scholars have long debated over Luther’s critical and radical breakthrough that led to the reform movement in Wittenberg (and indeed across Europe during the Age of Theological Reform); whether this understandingContinue reading “Comparing Historical Luthers: Reformation Breakthrough”
This post is part of our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post, the beginning of our second week, examines Oberman, Hendrix, and Kolb’s respective positions concerning Luther’s education and background. The educational and spiritual formation of Martin Luther has received a great deal of attention in recent years, and the studies of Oberman,Continue reading “Comparing Historical Luthers: Education and Background”
This post is part of our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post examines the perspective of Robert Kolb. Having surveyed the general contours of Oberman and Hendrix the past two days, we now turn to scholar Robert Kolb and his assessment of the person and theology of Martin Luther. Kolb begins his work,Continue reading “Robert Kolb on the Historical Luther”
This post is part of our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post examines the perspective of Scott Hendrix. In his book Abingdon Pillars of Theology: Luther, Hendrix argues that the key factor in understanding Luther persists in understanding his desire, as a primarily pastoral reformer, to remind Christianity of its true theology concerningContinue reading “Scott Hendrix on the Historical Luther”
This post is part of our series on the Historical Luther. Today’s post examines the perspective of Heiko Oberman. Heiko Oberman (d. 2001), in his book Luther: Man between God and the Devil, posits that “To understand Luther, we must read the history of his life from an unconventional perspective… in the light ofContinue reading “Heiko Oberman on the Historical Luther”
It has been said that Martin Luther has been written about more than any other single person apart from Jesus Christ. Theologians, historians, sociologists, psychologists, academics, and scholars of all stripes have read, studied, and written about the man who, by most accounts, began the Protestant Reformation when he posted his Ninety-Five Theses on theContinue reading “The Historical Martin Luther”
Pursuing Veritas