Faith…and Good Works! The Formation of the Lutheran Church through J. Bugenhagen

Authors

  • Martin Lohrmann Wartburg Theological Seminary

Abstract

Originally presented as the annual Lutheran Heritage lecture at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, this essay honors retired professor Kurt Hendel and his two-volume magnum opus, Johannes Bugenhagen, Selected Writings (Fortress, 2015). As Luther’s colleague and head pastor in Wittenberg during the Reformation, Bugenhagen excelled at connecting the new evangelical theology with grass-roots practice and institutional reform. This essay focuses, therefore, on the mutually-reinforcing relationship between faith and good works in Bugenhagen’s theology and in the wider Lutheran tradition.

Author Biography

Martin Lohrmann, Wartburg Theological Seminary

The Rev. Dr. Martin J. Lohrmann is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and assistant professor of Lutheran Confessions and Heritage at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He is the author of Book of Harmony: Spirit and Service in the Lutheran Confessions (Fortress, 2016), volume co-editor of 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series (IVP Academic, 2016), and translator of The Early Luther: Stages in a Reformation Reorientation by Berndt Hamm (Eerdmans, 2013).

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Published

2016-12-20