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The European reformations meant major changes in theology, religion, and everyday life. Some changes were immediate and visible in a number of countries: monasteries were dissolved, new liturgies were introduced, and married pastors were ordained, others were more hidden. Theologically, as well as practically the position of the church in the society changed dramatically, but differently according to confession and political differences. This volume addresses the question of how the theological, liturgical, and organizational changes changes brought by the reformation within different confessional cultures throughout Europe influenced the everyday life of ordinary people within the church and within society. The different contributions in the book ask how lived religion, space, and everyday life were formed in the aftermath of the reformation, and how we can trace changes in material culture, in emotions, in social structures, in culture, which may be linked to the reformation and the development of confessional cultures.
Focusing on the relationship between justification, gift-economy and ontology, this volume addresses fundamental issues in contemporary Reformation theology with an impact on the understanding of creation theology, human passivity/activity, self-giving, the concept of excess, and generosity. This volume brings the discussion of the role of studies in exchanging gifts into a Lutheran context, offering necessary clarifications on Lutheran thinking and Lutheran perspectives on existing discussions in other traditions. With its focus on gift-economy and ontology, this volume provides new perspectives on the core of Lutheran theology and identifies the crucial issues. The volume contains English and German studies. With contributions by: Oswald Bayer, Ingolf U. Dalferth, Risto Saarinen, Bo Kristian Holm, Niels Henrik Gregersen, Christine Poder, Peter Widmann
Sasja E.M. Stopa explores the influence of honour and glory on Martin Luther's theology. Luther's works overflow with terminology of honour and glory. Analysing a broad selection hereof, Stopa argues that his doctrine of justification centers on a soteriological concern for the recreation of human glory lost in the Fall and a doxological concern for God's glory stolen by sinners. Stopa shows how this relation to God patterns Luther's understanding of social relations and discusses justification as a process of mutual recognition translating Luther's theology of glory into contemporary theology.
From different perspectives this book studies the role of Reformation theology in the shaping of Danish society and the social dimensions of Lutheran confessional culture. The book develops an approach making it possible to draw strong conclusion about the social teaching of Luther and its impact on the development of the Danish society. It works on a conceptual level by analyzing the social dimensions of key Lutheran concepts and their translation into the doctrine of the three estates (church, household, and state), and on the level of lived experience of life within these three orders, not at least within the household forming the ideal form also for church and state. Thus the chapters in...
How does the Christian produce good works in service of her neighbor after justification? In Martin Luther’s famous 1520 treatise The Freedom of a Christian, the Reformer claimed that Christ’s love “springs spontaneously” from the Christian’s soul as good works. In Luther’s late-medieval theological context, however, this statement was incoherent with philosophical theories of moral action, which required an interplay between the soul and body. This problem persists in Lutheran theology today where human passivity in justification is extended over the Christian’s entire temporal life. Yet, Luther seemed to find solutions to this question in his late controversies with Johann Agricola over law and gospel. This study looks to pneumatological developments in that controversy for resources that support a more coherent view of moral action in the Christian life.
Protestant ethics has often been associated with work and duty, excluding sensuality, sexuality and other pleasures. In an age of body worship as well as body loathing, Elisabeth Gerle explores new paths, embarking on a conversation with Martin Luther in dialogue with contemporary theologians on attitudes towards desire, ethics and politics. She draws on Eros theology to challenge traditional Lutheran stereotypes, such as the dichotomies between different forms of love, as well as between spirit and body. Gerle argues that Luther’s spiritual breakthrough, where grace and gifts of creation became central, provides new meaning to sex and desire as well as to work, body and ordinary life. Wom...
An original, comprehensive system of theology especially apropos to the post-Christendom North American context In this scholarly work Paul Hinlicky transcends the impasse between dogmatic and systematic theology by articulating and arguing a single cognitive claim: God is the One who has determined to redeem the creation by the missions of his Son and Spirit. Deploying an unusual Spirit-Son-Father trinitarian scheme, Hinlicky treats the problem of the knowledge of God and the nature of the theological discipline, and he proceeds to carefully develop his system of theology through expansive, wideranging argumentation. Each main part of his work includes discussion of the ecumenical convergences in doctrine gained over the last generation and exploration of interreligious dialogues, especially with Judaism and Islam. Throughout the book, Hinlicky engages with other theologians -- particularly with Robert Jenson s Systematic Theology -- and concludes each major section with a discussion of an alternate perspective on the subject.
'No true Christian could vote for Donald Trump.' 'Real Christians are pro-life.' 'You can't be a Christian and support gay marriage.' Assertive statements like these not only reflect growing religious polarization but also express the anxiety over religious identity that pervades modern American Christianity. To address this disquiet, conservative Christians have sought security and stability: whether by retrieving 'historic Christian' doctrines, reconceptualizing their faith as a distinct culture, or reinforcing a political vision of what it means to be a follower of God in a corrupt world. The result is a concerted effort 'Make Christianity Great Again': a religious project predating the corresponding political effort to 'Make America Great Again.' Part intellectual history, part nuanced argument for change, this timely book explores why the question of what defines Christianity has become, over the last century, so damagingly vexatious - and how believers might conceive of it differently in future.
This book is about the crisis brought about by doctrine's estrangement from reality--that is from actual lives, experiences, histories, and from God. By invoking "the end of doctrine," Christine Helmer opens a new discussion of doctrinal production that is engaged with the challenges and possibilities of modernity. The end of doctrine refers on the one hand to unquestioning doctrinal reception, which Helmer critiques, and on the other, represents an invitation to a new way of understanding the aim of doctrine in deeper connection to the reality that it seeks. The book's first section offers an analysis of the current situation in theology by reconstructing a trajectory of Protestant theology...
Lutheran tradition has in various ways influenced attitudes to work, the economy, the state, education, and health care. One reason that Lutheran theology has been interpreted in various ways is that it is always influenced by surrounding social andcultural contexts. In a society where the church has lost a great deal of its cultural impact and authority, and where there is a plurality of religious convictions, the question of Lutheran identity has never been more urgent. However, this question is also raised in the Global South where Lutheran churches need to find their identity in a relationship with several other religions. Here this relationship is developed from a minority perspective. Is it possible to develop a Lutheran political theology that gives adequate contributions to issues concerning social and economic justice? What is the role of women in church and society around the world? Is it possible to interpret Lutheran theology in such a way that it includes liberating perspectives? These are some of the questions and issues discussed in this book.