The Journal of Lutheran Mission

Journal of Lutheran
Mission
September 2015 | Vol. 2 | No. 4
From the President
Wittenberg: The
Birthplace of the
Reformation
lmost 500 years ago, the Reformation,

which proclaimed a pure and undefiled Gospel
to the world, began in the lowly city of Wittenberg. At the time of the Reformation,
Wittenberg was a small, provincial
town with a developing university.
Wittenberg appeared insignificant to
the world (and many would say the
same today). Yet in a pattern that the
Lord has used over and over again
throughout history, He chose what is
insignificant to the world to be significant in bringing His salvation to all
peoples.
Martin Luther would have had a
difficult time imagining a gathering of
confessional Lutheran leaders at the
dawn of the twenty-first century. Yet
Luther would confess and have the
hope that as long as this world exists,
the Church of Christ will remain
standing against the gates of hell.
The papers presented in this issue of the Journal of
Lutheran Mission were presented at the second International Conference on Confessional Leadership (ICCL)
held in Wittenberg, Germany. The ICCL was held in
conjunction with the dedication of the Old Latin School,
located across from the Stadtkirche, Saint Marys, the
congregation where Martin Luther preached at least
1,000 times. The Old Latin School will be a beacon for
confessional Lutheranism to the entire world. We hope

in the coming years that the Old Latin School will host
many more conferences where papers of interest to
Lutherans worldwide are presented
and published.
The ICCL in Wittenberg had representatives from 41 countries, which
represented 23 million Lutherans
worldwide. The theme of the ICCL
conference was Celebrating the Reformation Rightly: Remembrance,
Repentance, Rejoicing. A goal of the
conference was to help prepare world
Lutheranism for the celebration of the
500th anniversary of the Reformation
in 2017. The papers presented in this
journal are to contribute to that anniversary celebration.
The Lord has blessed us greatly.
Confessional Lutheranism is here
for this moment to be Lutheran and
to take the confession of the Lutheran church into the
world.
I hope that you enjoy the papers presented in Wittenberg and find them edifying and helpful as you consider
the upcoming celebration of the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation.
Yet in a pattern
that the Lord has
used over and over
again throughout
history, He
chose what is
insignificant
to the world to
be significant
in bringing His
salvation to all
peoples.
In Christ,
Matthew C. Harrison
President
The Journal of Lutheran Mission

Contributing Editors
Rev. Dr. Charles Arand, faculty, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
David Berger, Emeritus, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Rev. Dr. Steve Briel, chairman, Board for National Mission, LCMS
Rev. Allan Buss, parish pastor, Belvidere, Ill.
Rev. Roberto Bustamante, faculty, Concordia Seminary, Buenos Aires
Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, director, LCMS Church Relations
Rev. Thomas Dunseth, director of deaf ministry, Lutheran Friends of the Deaf, New York
Rev. Dr. Charles Evanson, pastor emeritus, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Rev. Nilo Figur, area counselor for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lutheran Hour Ministries
Rev. Roosevelt Gray, director, LCMS Black Ministry
Rev. Dr. Carlos Hernandez, director, LCMS Hispanic Ministry
Rev. Dr. John Kleinig, emeritus lecturer, Australian Lutheran College
Rev. Ted Krey, regional director, Latin America and the Caribbean, LCMS
Rev. Todd Kollbaum, director, Rural and Small Town Mission, LCMS
Deaconess Dr. Cynthia Lumley, principal, Westfield Theological House, Cambridge
Rev. Dr. Gottfried Martens, parish pastor, Berlin
Rev. Dr. Naomichi Masaki, faculty, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Rev. Dan McMiller, associate executive director, Regional Operations and Recruitment, LCMS Office of International Mission
Rev. Dr. Tilahun Mendedo, president, Concordia College, Selma
Rev. Nabil Nour, fifth vice-president, LCMS
Rev. Dr. Steve Oliver, LCMS missionary, Taiwan
Rev. Dr. Michael Paul, LCMS theological educator to Asia
Rev. Roger Paavola, president, LCMS Mid-South District
Rev. Dr. Darius Petkunis, rector, Lithuanian Lutheran Seminary
Rev. Dr. Andrew Pfeiffer, faculty, Australian Lutheran College
Rev. John T. Pless, faculty, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, faculty, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Rev. Dr. David Rakotonirina, bishop, Antananarivo Synod of the Malagasy Lutheran Church
Rev. Dr. Victor Raj, faculty, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Deaconess Grace Rao, director, Deaconess Ministry, LCMS
Rev. Geoff Robinson, mission executive, Indiana District
Rev. Dr. Carl Rockrohr, pastor, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Rev. Robert Roethemeyer, faculty, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Rev. Dr. Brian Saunders, president, LCMS Iowa East District
Rev. Steve Schave, director, Urban and Inner City Mission, LCMS
Rev. Dr. Detlev Schultz, faculty, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
Rev. Dr. William Schumacher, faculty, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
Rev. Bernie Seter, chairman, Board for International Mission, LCMS
Rev. Kou Seying, parish pastor/Hmong ministry, Merced, Calif.
Rev. Alexey Streltsov, rector, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Siberia
Rev. Martin Teigen, parish pastor/Hispanic ministry, North Mankato, Minn.
Rev. Dr. Wilhelm Weber, Jr., rector, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Pretoria, South Africa
Rev. Dr. E. A. W. Weber, retired professor and rector, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Enhlanhleni (KwaZulu-Natal)
Rev. John Wille, president, LCMS South Wisconsin District
Executive Editors
Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III, director, LCMS Church Relations
Rev. Bart Day, executive director, LCMS Office of National Mission
Rev. John Fale, executive director, LCMS Office of International Mission
Foreword
by Joel Lehenbauer
ust over five years ago, in June 2010, a group of

twenty-five leaders representing a dozen Lutheran
churches from around the globe met on the campus
of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.,
for what was described as a Confessional Leadership
Conference, sponsored by the Commission on Theology
and Church Relations (CTCR) of the LCMS. The genesis
of this conference was a resolution (3-03) adopted by the
2007 convention of the Synod. This resolution
rejoiced that the LCMS has been richly blessed with
theological resources including two outstanding seminaries and a rich heritage and history of being confessionally
strong, and that the LCMS is blessed to work with other
confessional Lutheran churches around the world;
urged the CTCR, in consultation with the Office of
the President and our seminaries, [to] coordinate fundamentally constructive and intentionally supportive
efforts such as theological symposia [and] conferences
to uphold and nurture confessional Lutheranism;
and
asked that members of partner churches, members of
the ILC, as well as other church bodies and individuals
be invited to participate in these events for the purpose
of furthering and nurturing confessional Lutheran theology at home and abroad.
One month later, at its convention in July 2010, the
Synod commended the CTCR for its efforts in organizing this conference and essentially said (in Res. 3-02A):
Do it again! Do it even bigger and better!: This led to the
September 2012 International Conference on Confessional Leadership held near Atlanta, Ga., which brought
together some 120 Lutheran (and also non-Lutheran)
leaders from around the world for the purpose of mutual
edification and encouragement and for the promotion of
the Gospel-centered teachings that stand at the heart of
the Lutheran Reformation of the 16th century.
A year later, at its 2013 convention, the Synod said:

Praise God for these efforts! With 2017 approaching,
we dare not stop now. World Lutheranism, observed
the Synod in Res. 4-04, is in the process of a seismic
realignment, which creates tremendous opportunities and
challenges. The memory and theology of the Reformation
is in serious danger of extinction, even among churches
and organizations around the world that bear the name
Lutheran but have forsaken critical aspects of historic
Lutheran theology. We urge the CTCR and the Presidents
Office to continue their plans for another international
conference in the year 2015, to discuss possibilities for
collaborative efforts among confessional Lutherans around
the world toward the celebration of the 500th anniversary
of the Reformation in 2017 (Res. 4-04).
That led to the May 2015 International Conference
on Confessional Leadership held in Wittenberg, Germany, in conjunction with the May 3 dedication of the
International Luther Center at the Old Latin School
(http://thewittenbergproject.org/). Some 125 Lutheran
leaders from 41 countries representing 23 Lutherans
worldwide gathered together in Wittenberg, the cradle of
the Reformation, to reflect on the theme Celebrating the
Reformation Rightly: Remembrance, Repentance, Rejoicing. This issue of the Journal of Lutheran Mission contains
presentations and sermons delivered at this historic
around that theme. We hope you find them instructive,
encouraging and challenging.
As you read and reflect on these essays and sermons,
please know and be assured, as conference participants
were informed and assured: That we, as a Synod, give
thanks for the encouragement of the bold witness and
dedication to the Word of God of confessional Lutheran
church bodies around the world and urge the members of
the Synod to pray for these church bodies that God may
continue to bless us and them (2013 Res. 4-04).
Rev. Dr. Joel D. Lehenbauer
Executive Director
Commission on Theology and Church Relations
Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod
A Tribute for Rev. Dr. Charles Evanson

by Lawrence R. Rast, Jr.
Editors note: The Rev. Dr. Charles Evanson served 15 years overseas, first as a deployed staff from Concordia Theological Seminary
in Fort Wayne and then later after 2010 as a contract worker for the LCMS Office of International Mission in the area of theological
education. In May 2015, Dr. Evanson served as the worship planner and chaplain for the International Conference on Confession
Leadership (ICCL) in Wittenberg, Germany. This conference is the source of the papers in this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Mission.
After assisting with the ICCL in Wittenberg, Dr. Evanson returned to Lithuania to pack his belongings so that he could return to the
United States for retirement after many faithful years of service.
n an email of April 2000, the Rev. Dr. Charles

Evanson reported to Concordia Theological
Seminary, Fort Wayne (CTSFW) that he was
teaching elementary Hebrew, homiletics, God and
creation, eschatology and New Testament theology at the
University of Klaipeda in Lithuania. As he noted, It is
quite a mixture, and it makes for an interesting week of
classes.
That interesting week has now stretched beyond a
decade and a half, and Dr. Evansons ongoing, stellar service has cemented the strong relationship between The
Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod and the Lietuvos
Evangelik Liuteron Banyia (Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Lithuania).
Called by CTSFW in 1999 as deployed staff, Evanson brought a unique resum to the work outlined for
him. Undergraduate work at Valparaiso University was
followed by seminary and graduate studies at Chicago
Lutheran Theological Seminary (Maywood, Ill.), Union
Theological Seminary (New York City), the Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago, and Concordia Seminary
(Saint Louis). He was ordained in November 1964 and
colloquized into the ministerium of the LCMS through
CTSFW, then located in Springfield, Ill. After serving as
a missionary and pastor in both Canada and the United
States, Dr. Evanson settled into his long and fruitful pastorate at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Ind.
(19752000).
It is most rewarding to see a persons unique gifts
matched to particular situation with the result that all
involved grow and are blessed. That has been the situation
with Dr. Evanson and his service in Lithuania. Working
with the Rev. Dr. Darius Petknis, pastor of the Palanga
Lutheran Church, Evanson played a significant role in the
development of the Lithuanian hymnal and agenda. In
2012, Bishop Midaugus Sabutis honored Dr. Evanson by

counting him among the Lithuanian clergy.
Always aware of the unique moment in which he
worked, in 2010 Dr. Evanson noted: The door which had
been closed for so many years is once again open and the
church has mobilized itself to learn once again to become
a mission-minded church in the highly secularized,
post-Soviet, European Union environment.1
And the Lord has blessed that work. In May 2003, Dr.
Evanson could report: We have good evidence that our
work here is bearing good fruit. I think that you too are
able to bear testimony to the renewed interest in Confessional Lutheran Theology and its practical application
that is evident here. Of course, there is an old saying that
were God build His Church, the devil builds a chapel next
door In short, the Church in Lithuania continues to
need our continuing educational work, and the faithful
prayers of Lutherans all over the world.
And so even as we give thanks for Dr. Evansons service, we continue to pray for our fellow Christians and
co-workers in Christs mission in Lithuania.
Lord Jesus Christ, you came to earth to destroy the devils works. You have conquered sin, death, and hell and have
brought life and immortality to light. We give you thanks
for the faithful work of your servant, Charles and pray
that you will continue to send faithful laborers into your
harvest. Grant us conviction and courage to continue the
work entrusted to us daily to struggle against the devils
dominion and daily to strive to extend your kingdom.
The Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast, Jr. is president of Concordia
Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Charles J. Evanson, Christs Servants in Lithuania, For the Life of the

World 14 (November 2010): 10.
1
Journal of Lutheran
Table of Contents
Mission
September 2015 | Vol. 2 | No. 4
Sermon: A Song of Joy by Michael Kumm...................................................................................................... 2

Luthers Truths: Then and Now by Robert Kolb....................................................................................... 5
Reformation in New Lands and Tongues by Lawrence R. Rast, Jr...................................................... 16
The Message of the Reformation by Matthew C. Harrison................................................................ 23
Reformation Jubilees: Is There Cause for Celebration in 2017?
by Werner Kln .................................................................................................................................................. 26
Decline in American Lutheranism: A Study by James Arne Nestigen .............................................. 44
The Lutheran Reformations Continuing Importance for the Church Today:
Celebrating the Reformation Rightly Repentance An African Perspective
by Joseph Ochola Omolo................................................................................................................................. 52
The Reformation and Asia: Another Battleground of Confession
and Liturgy by Naomichi Masaki.................................................................................................................. 62
Europe: Deflection from the Confessional Base and New Signs of
Its Vitality by Darius Petkunas.................................................................................................................... 67
Reformation Truth in the Global Church: Latin America by Ricardo Rieth............................. 72
The Lutheran Reformation and the North American Inheritance by Gerhard Bode.............. 76
From Repentance to Rejoicing by Albert B. Collver III ...................................................................... 80
Enduring Hope: The West and Beyond by Roland Gustafasson......................................................... 85
Celebrating the Reformation Rightly: Remembrance, Repentance and Rejoicing
by Joseph Makala................................................................................................................................................ 88
Lutheran Witness in Turkey by Ville Typp............................................................................................. 91
The Lutheran Church in Africa: Thirty Years of Growth by Mike Rodewald............................ 95
Book Review and Commentary: The Forgotten Ways Reactivating the Missional
Church by Alan Hirsch and The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imangination and
Practice for the 21st Century Church by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim
by Albert B. Collver III.................................................................................................................................. 105
2015 The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod.
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A periodical of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synods Offices of National and International Mission.
What does Is. 12:16 have to tell us
Sermon: A Song
of Joy
about Gods anger and, even more

importantly, His love toward us?
by Michael Kumm
n the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of people. In our text, Isaiah proclaims the same hope to his
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
despairing hearers: Although things look terribly dire, the
The Word of the Lord from Isaiah 12: I will give Lord is faithful. And even though theres a long time to
thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with go before the Lord delivers them, He declares a song of
me, your anger turned away, that you
praise for them to sing along the way.
might comfort me. This is the Word
So it is with you and me. We
of the Lord.
sing this song of joy as we celebrate
God made Jesus to be
Having recently walked the 40
Easter, but more than that, we know
sin for our sake. Thats
days of Lent in joyful anticipation
this: It is a time of darkness in a
where God turned His
of the glorious return of the Allelusinful world as we await our resuranger
for
our
sin
onto
ias at the Resurrection of Our Lord
rection of the dead and the life of the
and celebrated the appearances of
world to come. In other words, dear
His Son at the cross.
Christ to the world, we now Sing to
friends, this song of joy is for you
the Lord a new song! We waited for
along the way as you await deliverthis sometimes not so patiently the true salvation of ance to heaven.
our souls.
So it begins: I will give thanks to You, O Lord, for
The people of Isaiahs time were waiting waiting though You were angry with me, Your anger turned away,
for deliverance from enemies about to overrun them. that You might comfort me. Theres your Gospel right
The Book of Isaiah is full of warnings to the wicked, there. God was angry with you, and rightly so because of
both Gentiles and the people of Israel. But in the first your sin. But God is not angry with you anymore. Why?
twelve chapters, Isaiah spends quite a bit of time telling Because God has turned His anger away from you. But
the people they are not forsaken telling them that the because He is just, He must punish sin: He cannot just
promised Savior will come. He points them to that future turn His anger from you and direct it into outer space.
coming and tells them that He is their hope, even now.
The sinner must face judgment.
As chapter 11 draws to a close, as the people fret that
That is why this verse gets you to the Gospel: God
they will be wiped off the face of the earth by the Assyr- turned His anger away from you and turned it toward
ians, Isaiah declares to the people, And there will be a His Son, reminding us that, For our sake [God] made
highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of His him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the become the righteousness of God. God made Jesus to be
land of Egypt (Is. 11:16). He points them to the Exodus, sin for our sake. Thats where God turned His anger for
when Moses led the people out of Egypt and through the our sin onto His Son at the cross. Because Christ was
Red Sea. And what did they do once they crossed the sea the object of Gods wrath and the bearer of our sin, we
and Pharaohs armies were washed away?
are now forgiven. We are now righteous and live as the
They sang a song praise to God, a song that declared, beloved children of God. Rather than condemn us, He
The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has comforts us.
become my salvation. They still had a long way to go to
In fact, check out the news of the following verse,
the Promised Land, but they stopped and sang along the which echoes the song from the Exodus: Behold, God
way. They did so with good reason: Far from the Promised is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for
Land in the wilderness, the Lord who had delivered them the LORD God is my strength and my song, and He has
was present to protect them, and He would not leave His become my salvation. The verse states the astonishing
truth twice. It is not just that God has caused my sal- are those who have reached despair, who are well aware of
vation or God has sent my salvation, but that God is their guilt and mortality but dont see any way to redempmy salvation. He is your salvation because He is the One tion: such are very aware of Gods wrath, but not at all of
sacrificed on the cross for you. Where you were power- His grace and life.
less against sin and death, the Lord God is your strength,
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
and He has defeated sin and death. He has destroyed the described the curse of frozen Narnia as always winter,
power of all that would leave you unrighteous and cor- never Christmas. For those who sense Gods wrath but
rupted, and He has given you His righteousness and life. do not know His salvation, life is always Lent, never
He is your salvation, He is your strength and He is your Easter. Always wilderness, never Promised Land. Thirst,
song. In fact, this verse echoes Ps. 118:14, which says, not wells of salvation. Only death, not life, awaits. Thats a
The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become world in need of Good News.
my salvation. And how does that song continue in Psalm
Thus our text continues: Give thanks to the Lord,
118? It sings out, I shall not die, but I
call upon His name, make known His
shall live, and recount the deeds of the
deeds among the peoples, proclaim
Lord (Ps. 118:17). It declares, The
that His name is exalted. Sing praises
Because Christ was
stone that the builders rejected has
to the Lord, for He has done glorithe object of Gods
become the cornerstone. This is the
ously; let this be made known in all
wrath
and
the
bearer
Lords doing; it is marvelous in our
the earth.
of our sin, we are now
eyes (Ps. 118:2223).
This is the privilege given to the
That is the song of joy that you
Church, to the people of God to
forgiven.
sing. God has turned His anger away
proclaim the glorious deeds of God.
from you. He is your salvation, your
We proclaim Christmas to a world
strength and your song. And therefore, with joy you will that knows only winter and Easter to people who know
draw water from the wells of salvation. In keeping with only Lent. To those who know only guilt, we declare forthe reference to the Exodus, Isaiah reminds us that this giveness in Christ. To those who see funerals as the end,
world is the wilderness as we make our way to the Prom- we proclaim eternal life. For those who fear the wrath
ised Land of heaven. Water is necessary for life. More of God, we declare that God has turned His wrath away
than once in the wilderness, the people had no water and from them onto Christ; and not only that, but now God
would have died were it not for the Lord. But the Lord turns His face to shine upon them, to be gracious unto
provided water in the wilderness to keep the people alive them.
on the journey to the Promised Land. So also He keeps
That is the news that we are given by God to proclaim:
you alive by His means of grace, as Jesus declares in John freedom in Christ from sin and death. And that is why the
4, But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him devil works overtime to persecute this proclamation, to
will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him make confessing the faith seem like a burden instead of a
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal privilege. Satan will try to make us fear the wrath of man
life (John 4:14).
more than the wrath of God, to value our lives and liveGod is not angry with you. He has turned His anger lihoods more than the eternal life of others. That is why
away from you, and now He comforts you. He is your sal- confessing the faith is difficult, but we get to proclaim life
vation, your strength and your song.
that raises the dead. That is the new song that we sing.
It is no small thing that God is not angry with you. The
It is not easy, and the world does not hear the news
world still lives under the wrath of God. It is not because gladly. Well believe the burden heavy, and well need to
God desires it, for He takes no pleasure in the death of repent of that often. That is why we sing the song to each
the wicked, but would have them turn and live. They are other, to encourage each other that Gods wrath is turned
under Gods wrath because their sins are still bound to away, to comfort one another with Gods strength and
them, because they have not yet repented and been saved. salvation. Furthermore, we declare that we are not alone;
Deep down inside, sinners know that they are under that is the conclusion of the song of Isaiah 12: Shout and
the wrath of God: it is part of the Law that is written on sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst
their hearts, part of what their conscience whispers. There is the Holy One of Israel. As it was true for the people of
the Exodus, so it is true for you. You are not alone, and
you are certainly not forsaken. The Holy One of Israel is
great in your midst, but not with mighty acts of power visible to the human eye. Rather, He works the great miracle
of resurrection in Baptism, so that eternal life is already
yours. He works the great miracle of forgiveness and faith
within you by the speaking of His Word, by the singing of
the new song of the Gospel. The Holy One comes in the
midst of you body, blood and all in with and under
bread and wine.
The Holy One Jesus Christ is in your midst
with His song of joy for this life of Lent. He is your comfort, your strength and your song. He is your salvation,
because He suffered the wrath for your sin when it was
turned upon Him, and He rose again to give you life. That
is the song of joy now and forever that you are forgiven
for all of your sins.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kumm is pastor of Holy Cross

Lutheran Church, Dakota Dunes, S.D., and chairman of
the LCMS Board of Directors.
Luthers insights into the Word
Luthers Truths:
Then and Now
by Robert Kolb
of the Lord can be translated as

he translated Scripture and the
tradition of the Church: into our
times and our places, as different
as they are in our several corners
of Gods world.
t is quite amazing it is the rarest of occasions indulgences in 1517, they created the first modern media
in human history that people around the world event, a public relations happening like none previously
are spending so much time, energy and money to experienced in European civilization.2 This media event
commemorate a simple, ordinary academic exercise. initiated a series of events that captured minds and hearts
No one five hundred years from now will celebrate or as it produced a fresh redefinition of what it means to
rail against a faculty forum held at Concordia Seminary be Christian. This new definition transformed the way
in 2015. In 1517, Desiderius Erasmus was much more Christians understand who their God is and who they are.
influential than the young Wittenberg professor who The ripple effect of this redefinition continues to make an
simply wanted to explore a question of pastoral care in impact often in ways unintended by Luther and conthe normal way academicians explored new ideas in tradictory to his intentions today.
their disciplines, by posing theses
Recent Luther scholarship has
for debate. Erasmus contemporary,
emphasized the continuities of the
A living and lively
Johann Eck, trying to make a career
Wittenberg reformers thought with
for himself at another new, small
elements of medieval teaching and
historical memory
university in Ingolstadt, may have been
practice. It certainly is important to
is a great blessing,
more intelligent than his Wittenberg
particularly when it is recognize these continuities and the
colleague in terms of his command
roots of much of Luthers thinking
directed
toward
Gods
of scholastic theology, although
in medieval antecedents, both in the
work of blessing His
Martin Luther was no amateur at the
scholastic tradition and in the monastic
scholastic arts.
tradition of teaching and practicing
Church with the
But with around ninety-five
the faith. Indeed, it is only when we
Gospel.
depending on how the printers
recognize how Luther took what was
divided them theses on the practice
familiar to his contemporaries and
of indulgences, Martin Luther began a Church-chang- reworked the way key medieval terms were defined
ing, world-altering series of events that shaped the world and key concepts recast that we can appreciate how
far beyond the little frontier town of Wittenberg. What radically the core of his understanding of being Christian
Thomas Kuhn labeled in 1962 a paradigm shift, in his critiqued medieval constructions of the faith and how
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, produced what fundamentally he set the church on new paths.3 It should
some call the Copernican revolution in theology: Luthers
2 How Luther Went Viral, The Economist, 17 December 2011, 9395.
new characterization of being Christian.1 When print- Luther
did recognize the potential of the printing press quickly and
ers pirated Luthers proposals for debate on the issue of imaginatively employed its possibilities for spreading his message.
3
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed. (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1970).
1
Volker Leppin, Luthers Transformation of Medieval Thought,

Continuity and Discontinuity, in The Oxford Handbook of Martin
Luthers Theology, ed. Robert Kolb, Irene Dingel, and Lubomir Batka
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 115124.
not surprise us that an individual never loses completely from Scripture and placed them within the structures of
all the old forms of thinking into which his mind has been traditional Germanic, Celtic and Slavic religions. Those
pressed by his instructors. New ideas that catch hold in religions did not have elaborate doctrinal systems but
society always take form within an older way of thinking, instead understood the relationship between the gods,
so that those who receive these new ways also retain some their concept of the Ultimate and Absolute, and themfooting in the old way of thinking. Medieval Christianity selves largely in terms of ritual. The relationship was
was Christian. But Luther recast the framework for initiated by and flowed out of human performance of that
reading Scripture and proclaiming its message as he which pleased the gods, and what pleased the gods was
worked within the old system of thinking to come to chiefly the execution of sacred religious activities. Proper
significantly new foundations for thinking and living in implementation of ritual depended on priests; the people
biblical fashion.
of Europe had no problem accepting the religious authorA framework used in the discipline of compara- ity of a hierarchy endowed with powers beyond that of
tive religions or the history of
ordinary human beings when
religions may help make clear
Christian priests were introduced
what Luther accomplished with
into the village. Thus, in 1500,
Luthers understanding
his new definition of being
Christianity for most Europeans
that the basic problem of
Christian. Religions have six
consisted of proper performance of
life,
our
failure
to
fear,
love
common elements, according
ritual in the domain of a hierarchy
and trust in God above
to this theory: doctrine (the
that they experienced in the person
fundamental principles governof their local priest and that they
all things, opens the way
ing the perception of reality in
knew culminated in the supreme
to settling anxieties and
5
the specific religious system of
bringing peace. For it teaches pontiff, Christs vicar in Rome.
thinking); narratives that are
Through a combination of facthat
our
core
identity
in
the source and the expression
tors, the young Wittenberg monk
Luthers language our passive
of the doctrine; ritual (including
and professor came to a different
both formal liturgical exercises
conclusion. His personality dare
righteousness is given
and the routine pious practices
not be discounted in assessing
free of charge and free of
woven into daily life as means
how he came to his formulation
condition to the God who
of relating to the Ultimate and
of the biblical message. Could
speaks
to
us
in
Jesus
Christ.
Absolute); ethics (the ways in
Luthers thinking, with its clear
which human beings properly
display of the stringency of Gods
relate to other human beings and
wrath and the sweetness of His
other creatures); community( how adherents live together love in Jesus Christ, have come from the pen of a person
and how their polity provides governance for their reli- who had not experienced the intense emotional highs
gious institutions, usually through some kind of sacred and lows that Luther himself experienced? Not only his
hierarchy); and finally the element of personal commit- personality, but also his scholastic education molded his
ment that binds the first five together (faith for Christians, theology in profound ways. The presuppositions he learned
submission for Muslims, the longing for nirvana for Bud- from instructors schooled in the tradition of William of
dhists).4
Ockham, mediated through the teaching of Gabriel Biel,
Medieval, Western European Christianity had been Luthers intellectual grandfather, professor at Tbingen,
shaped by its missionaries, to be sure, but in much of shaped his thinking. Well-known is his rejection of Biels
the Mediterranean world, and quite generally north of understanding that God gives His grace only to those
the Alps, too few Christians were available at the time of who do their best (facere quod in se est), so that they can
conversion to teach and instill the biblical framework of perform works meritorious of salvation.6 Less widely recthinking in the people. The masses took some concepts
Scott Hendrix, Recultivating the Vineyard (Louisville: Westminster/
John Knox, 2004), 135.
5
Ninian Smart, Worldviews. Cross Cultural Explorations of Human

Beliefs (New York: Scribners, 1983).
4
Heiko A. Oberman, The Harvest of Medieval Theology (Durham:

Labyrinth, 1983), 4750, 146184.
6
ognized is the fact that other elements of Ockhams and

Biels system of thought set in place fundamental insights
for the young monk. Ockhams principle was that Gods
almighty power (potentia absoluta) had permitted Him
to create the world in any way He wished and established
Him as the Creator who creates and re-creates without
condition, Luther decided, even without human beings
doing their best. Ockhams understanding of the limits
of the human creatures ability to grasp God in categories
of human reasoning and his perceptions of how human
language functions remained with Luther throughout his
life.7
But it was finally his study of Scripture that led him to
his fundamental new insights into who God is and what
it means to be human that led him to his redefinition of
what it means to be Christian. He had learned bits and
pieces of the Bible from childhood on, perhaps initially
not being able to distinguish its stories from the stories
of the saints in the Legenda aurea, the collection of tales
of miraculous deeds performed by historical or mythical
figures who substituted in the popular imagination for the
gods and goddesses banned temporarily from the conception of the world that the missionaries brought with
them. In school Luther had memorized Psalms in Latin to
be sung by the choir in the church. In the university dormitory he had heard Bible readings at mealtime, a custom
taken over from the monastery. Once in the monastery
this lectio continua continued, as well as the singing of the
psalmody in the seven hours of prayer each day.
But Luther truly learned Scripture as he began to teach
it in 1513. He began with the Psalms, naturally, not simply
because he had learned to love the deep-seated expression of human feelings that arose out of his own inner
depths, which the psalmists had captured in graceful
poetic fashion, but also because instruction in the Psalms
had long since become a standard core of the theological curriculum. He went on to Romans, then Galatians
and Hebrews, and returned to the Psalms before political events and social turmoil interrupted his lecturing for
half a decade, from 1521 to 1526. Somewhere in the seven
or eight years following his inaugural lectures in 1513
he experienced what has been labeled his Tower experience or his evangelical breakthrough, terms scholars
are now giving up on, because it becomes ever clearer that
like most human beings, Luthers ideas changed slowly,
raggedly, without a direct line of progress. Rather than a
7
Ibid., 3038.
breakthrough or a magical, single experience, Luther

experienced an evangelical maturation.
Key to that maturation was his new understanding of
what Scripture says about the person of God and the persons created as human in His image. Luther learned from
personal experience what it meant to try to deal with
the God created by the mix of Scripture and Aristotelian concepts of an Unmoved Mover. He had received his
theological instruction in a world where order depended
on human conformity to an eternal law, which served as
the only guarantee of the security of the world and the
individual in the absence of the Creator. His Ockhamist
instruction cultivated in him, however, a suspicion of
the Aristotelian definition of the human being as animal
rationalis. Being a living human being involved more than
just reason (although Aristotle himself had made clear
that the will and emotions with reason constituted being
human). The God whom Moses and the prophets introduced to him was not Unmoved but on the move, moving
through the passage of time which he had created, always
moving as the utterly faithful Creator and conversation partner, in relationship with the human creatures
fashioned in his image, with reason, will, and emotions.
8
Luther had no doctrine of God apart from God in relationship with his human creatures, the Deus revelatus.
No doctrine of the Deus absconditus was possible since
there was no reliable basis for wrapping the human mind
around God without his own revelation.9
God revealed Himself by addressing humankind
throughout human history. God made the first evangelism
call, asking, Adam, where are you? God stormed and
cajoled, condemned and consoled, warned and wooed
through Israels entire history and sent His disciples into
the world to do the same. God just keeps talking throughout Scripture and throughout the Churchs history. He has
been present and continues to be present, exercising His
power through His use of human language. Luther loved
words, and he loved Gods Word. The God whom Luther
encountered in Scripture showed a full range of emotions, from raging wrath in His disgust over children who
would not listen to Him, to tender, gentle, loving, kind
comfort and caressing those whom He lifted to cuddle
on his lap. The Swedish scholar of German language and
Notger Slenczka, Luthers Anthropology, in Oxford Handbook,
212232.
8
Gerhard O. Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross. Reflections

on Luthers Heidelberg Disputation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997),
6981.
9
literature Birgit Stolt points out that Luthers use of the

Erikson is famous also for his concept of identity as
biblical picture of God as Father and His human creatures the key to how human beings deal with themselves and
as His children intensified, both in the frequency of usage the reality around them. What he means by identity is
and in the drama of the imagery, once his own children not the same as, but closely akin to, Luthers concept of
came into his life.10
human righteousness, being what God made us to be.
In an age in which social systems cultivate individual Righteousness is an important topic throughout Scripindependence and thus foster a loss of community, a defi- ture; Luthers understanding of Gods righteousness
cit of contact and communication, the call to return to the shifted from depicting Him as the evaluator with the scale
family of origin, gathered around a loving Father, who is in which things were measured according to the standard
longing to talk with His children, and coming together to of His Law to being presented as the person who comes to
connect with those whom He has made to be sisters and die and rise for those whom He loves.
brothers, can be a powerful way of presenting our God.
Luther also departed radically from medieval perWhat Luther saw then in the pages of Scripture speaks ceptions of human righteousness, single-faceted as they
volumes now.
were. Righteousness meant, for the spectrum of theoFor several reasons, defining being human in terms of logical voices from Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas to
being Gods child fits Luthers understanding of what God Ockham and Biel, that human beings in some way met
did when He took dust from the earth and breathed into it the demands for perfect performance of Gods Law in
the breath of life. Luthers foundational definition of what one way or another. That might be possible, as Augusit means to be Gods human child is that we have been tine taught, only through the aid of Gods grace and with
created to fear, love and trust in God
His gracious forgiveness. Aquinas, too,
above all else. The twentieth-century
taught that prevenient grace had to
dogmatician and psychologist Erik Erikcome before good works but that good
What Luther saw
son did a better job of capturing a pair
works constituted that which makes
then in the pages
of Luthers insights in his psychological
God take pleasure in His human creaof Scripture speaks
theories than he did in sketching the
tures.
volumes
now.
reformers biography in his Young Man
Despite the admission that Gods
Luther. That volume is a less than sucgrace is necessary for becoming righcessful attempt to apply Freudian theory to a person from teous, this one-dimensional understanding of human
another culture and another time.11 Erikson came closer, identity or righteousness placed Luther continuously
however, to Luther as he taught that trust learned from under Gods judgment until he discovered that human
contact with particularly ones mother determines human righteousness in Gods sight comes alone from God and
personality. Our definitions of our own personhood that there are two facets to human identity. The first
spring from the trust or mistrust engendered in us in the aspect or facet of human righteousness is passive, the core
first two years of life, according to Erikson.12 Luther did a identity, the real DNA, which is totally a gift of God, just
biblical instead of an experimental analysis of humanity as the physical DNA that constitutes our person is a gift
and quickly determined that the faithful God created His from our parents, unrequested, unearned, undeserved.
people to be faithful, to live by faith, to trust Him in order The second facet is active, human actions executing
to find the Shalom necessary for life to function well in human responsibilities, which God our Creator built
relationship to Him and to all other creatures. Luther into our nature. Luther labeled his distinction of these
recognized that trust in God, not performance of good two facets of our identity, or two kinds of human righworks, is the foundation and framework of our humanity. teousness, our theology in his Galatians commentary,13
and Philip Melanchthon made it the anthropological
10 Martin Luther on God as Father, Lutheran Quarterly 8 (1994),
basis of his presentation of the justification of the sinner
38595.
by grace through faith in the Apology of the Augs11
Young Man Luther, a Study in Psychoanalysis and History (New York:
Norton, 1958).
See, e.g., Eriksons Insight and Responsibility (New York: Norton,

1964), esp. 81107, Identity, Youth and Crisis (New York: Norton, 1968),
esp. 91141, Life History and the Historical Moment (New York: Norton,
1975).
12
13 Dr. Martin Luthers
Werke (Weimar: Bhlau, 1883 ) [henceforth WA]

40,I:45,2427; Luthers Works (St. Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia
and Fortress, 1958-1986) [henceforth LW]), 26:7.
burg Confession.14 Luther initially distinguished iustitia tions for being human by behaving properly. He gave the
aliena righteousness from outside ourselves from gift of being human without condition.
iustitia propria righteousness that we perform ourA simple theological parable may clarify the distincselves but later turned to the terminology of passive and tion. Although by the definition of his own theology
active righteousness.15 Chemnitz wrote in Article III of Thomas Aquinas had sufficient merit to proceed directly
the Formula of Concord, In this life believers who have to heaven without having to work off temporal punishbecome righteous through faith in Christ have first of all ment in purgatory, the Dominican saint dallied along
the righteousness of faith that is reckoned to them and the way, visiting old friends and doing research among
then thereafter the righteousness of new obedience or those who still had purgatorial satisfactions to discharge
good works that is begun in them. But these two kinds there. He arrived at Saint Peters gate some 272 years
of righteousness dare not be mixed with each other or after his death, on Feb. 18, 1546. After ascertaining his
simultaneously introduced into the article on justification name, Saint Peter asked Thomas, Why should I let you
by faith before God.16
into my heaven? Because of the grace of God, Thomas
Luthers concept of two kinds of righteousness simply answered, ready to explain the concept of prevenient
builds upon the image of parent and child. Parents give grace, should it be necessary. Peter asked instead, How
their children their basic identity, described in modern do I know you have Gods grace? Thomas, who had
terms with concepts like DNA and genetic make-up. Par- brought a sack of his good deeds with him, was ready
ents expect their children to perform in the manner the with the proof. Here are the good works of a lifetime, he
family deems appropriate behavior. You cannot really explained. I could have done none of them without Gods
have one side of the equation
grace, but in my worship and
over the long haul without
observation of monastic rules, in
Luther
and
his
students
the other, although the disrupmy obedience to parents, govertion of sin does alter the nature
nors and superiors, in my concern
did not hesitate to address
of these two facets or aspects of
for the physical well-being and
guilt as they proclaimed
our humanity. Parents do not ask
property of others, in my chastity
Gods Law, but they more
their children some nine months
and continence, you can see my
often talked about the
before birth if the child will be
righteousness grace-assisted as
anxiety
and
terror
aroused
ready to help with household
it may be. Since a line was formchores and support the parents
ing behind Thomas, Peter waved
by Gods wrath over human
in their old age as a condition
him in, certain that Thomas would
guilt rather than about the
of birth. They give life through
soon receive a clearer understandfeelings of guilt itself.
conception and birth, free of
ing of his own righteousness. The
obligation. But the expectanext person in line stepped up.
tions of performance do follow the free gift of life. No Name? Martin Luther. Why should I let you into
parent hopes that the newborn child will never change. my heaven? Because of the grace of God. Peter was
All parents expect that their children will be from Lake in a playful mood, so he went on, How do I know you
Wobegon, performing at least a little bit above average. have Gods grace? Thomas had his works to prove his
Likewise, Adam and Eve did not have a probation period righteousness, but I dont see that you have brought any
after being formed from the dust of the earth and taken proof along that you are righteous. Works? Luther
from the others rib, respectively. God did not wait some exclaimed. Works? I didnt know I was supposed to bring
time to see whether these living beings met His expecta- my works with me! I thought they belonged on earth with
my neighbors. I left them down there. Well, said Gatekeeper Peter, how then am I supposed to know that you
14 Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche, ed.
really have Gods grace? Luther pulled a little, well-worn,
Irene Dingel (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014 [henceforth
BSELK]), 272/273278/279, 286/287288289, 552553, The Book
oft-read scrap of paper out of his pocket and showed it
of Concord, ed. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert (Minneapolis:
to Peter. On it were the words, Martin Luther, baptized,
Fortress, 2000), 122125, 128, 234235.
15 WA 2:145, 710; LW 31:297.
Nov. 11, in the year of our Lord 1483. You check with
16 FC, SD III:32, BSELK, 1400/1401, BC, 567568.
Jesus, Luther said. He will tell you that I have been born
again as a member of the family. He will tell you that he

Has given me the gift of righteousness through his own
blood and his own resurrection.17
In this age the search for identity proceeds largely on
the basis of how I perform: on my job, with raising my
kids, in my relationship with my spouse, in my sports club
and on the ball field. At such a time as ours the assertion
that our core identity, the one that will last because it lies
in Gods regard for us through Jesus Christ and His death
and resurrection for us, can give people a whole new
vision of life from which to build hope again. In an age in
which many mean it when they say, I wish I were dead,
we are able to say, I have just the thing for you, and fit
them with the death of the old identity and the garment
of resurrection in Christ. This can foster a sense of peace
and joy that people have never been able to dream of
before. What Luther saw then in the pages of Scripture
speaks volumes now.
The Enlightenment tried to return to something of an
Aristotelian vision of the human being as a living being
who can manage life successfully through reason. But
the Enlightenment is coming crashing down all around
us. Central and northern Europeans seem to be the only
people who are not noticing. It is interesting that the
Enlightenment is hanging on longest where Lutheran
theology failed to hold onto the popular imagination.
In fact, for all the national worries, U. S. Americans still
begin by singing, I did it my way, thinking that they
have established themselves on sure footing with their
own decisions, but they go on to sing that they get no
satisfaction and end up concluding that freedom is just
another name for nothing left to lose. In such a world the
mastery of reason seems diminished. Rationality also falls
increasingly into conflict with the desire to feel good. But
feeling good proves also to be elusive. Around the world
optimism is dimming about human capabilities to preserve order and peace, harmony and prosperity, shalom
in Hebrew terms, the likes of Eden. It is interesting that
what the Germans describe with Zufriedenheit being
at peace English-speakers describe as satisfaction
making enough for ourselves, or fulfillment getting full
of what we want. And that is still the goal of all those who
live the lifestyle of democratic capitalism, whatever continent they may claim.
17
Taken from Robert Kolb, Luther on the Two Kinds of Righteousness.

Reflections on His Two-Dimensional Definition of Humanity at the
Heart of His Theology, Lutheran Quarterly 13 (1999): 449466, here
454455.
10
Nonetheless, more and more people speak of their

vulnerability and the frailty and futility of life. Some turn
to fatalistic explanations. Others blame someone or some
other group. Of the making of scapegoats, there is no end.
But casting blame solves nothing. Finally we must conclude, We have met the enemy, and he is us, as Pogo,
a cartoon figure of my youth, opined. Luther knew that.
And Luther knew that evil has deeper roots and sin more
profound implications than any casual brush with bad
luck or unfortunate accident can drive home for people.
Luther experienced that the good that he wanted to do
did not get done because without trust in the God, who
provides a haven in every need and truly supplies all
good, he was inevitably turned in upon himself, relying
on creatures rather than Creator to secure his identity, the
reality around him and his life.18
Desperation creeps into the consciousness of those
whose perception of their own identity finally ends up
wanting more security than can be offered by their own
performance of what they think is right for them. Any
other creature or creatures that they marshal as their supporting force and foundation fail as well. For such people,
Luthers understanding that the basic problem of life,
our failure to fear, love and trust in God above all things,
opens the way to settling anxieties and bringing peace.
For it teaches that our core identity in Luthers language our passive righteousness is given free of charge
and free of condition to the God who speaks to us in Jesus
Christ. What Luther saw then in the pages of Scripture
speaks volumes now.
The bestowal of passive righteousness takes place,
in Luthers view, when God goes about doing what God
does: creating, or in this case re-creating, and accomplishing His new creation through His Word, just as in
the beginning He spoke and reality came into existence.
Martin Franzmann caught Luthers sense with poetic precision: Gods strong Word had cleft the darkness, when
it was done at His speaking; and so also does His strong
Word bespeak us righteous, birthed with His own holiness as a result of the light of His salvation breaking upon
those who dwelt in darkness and the depths of death.
19
Re-creation takes place when His word of forgiveness,
life and salvation buries sinful identities and raises up
new creatures in Christ. Luther called that the restoration
Lubomr Batka, Luthers Teaching on Sin and Evil, in Oxford
Handbook, 233253.
18
Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006),

578.
19
of righteousness justification.
The suggestion that justification is a term that has
lost its significance for twenty-first century North Americans and Western Europeans and may never have had
much significance for people outside Western cultures
has been repudiated by Oswald Bayer. He argues that
most Western Europeans and North Americans spend
much of their lives justifying themselves to spouses, parents, children, neighbors, employers, fellow employees,
referees on the sports field, traffic police who stop us
we are continually justifying our actions if not our very
existence, also to ourselves.20 This need to establish ones
own integrity is not reserved for Europeans and North
Americans. Most people feel compelled to present and
defend our own merit and value, our own rights to be the
person we want to be and the person we are. Usually, what
we have accomplished and achieved is the underpinning
and substance of our argument. No sixteenth-century
Christian was any more insistent on a Pelagian view of
human merit than the typical Western European or North
American of today. Many of them are just as beset by selfdoubt, self-accusation, self-denial or despair as were the
super-conscientious monks of whom Luther was one.
God is still calling out to precisely this kind of person,
to those who fear that they have not performed to standard, or have not forged the right connections to further
their children or snag a promotion. Gods Word still
projects itself to light up the darkness of those who turn
in upon themselves because they can trust no outward
source of support anymore.
Luthers grasp of Gods reality addresses those who
feel themselves in free fall, with nothing to grab onto for
support and safety. God creates a new reality for them
by filling the hole at the center of their lives, where fear,
love and trust in Him had been replaced by fear, love and
trust in some unworthy, unworkable substitute for the
Creator. God comes to say that He no longer views them
with the distaste and disgust that parallels their own distaste and disgust for their former way of life. God comes
to bury their sinful identities in Christs tomb and raise
them up to be justified, righteousness-restored members
of His family, so that they can enjoy Gods love and live
recklessly in risking all for the neighbor and live with
abandon, so that Christs love can be broadcast into the
world around them. In this, Luther is echoing Pauls lan-
guage regarding Baptism in Romans 6 and Colossians 2.

In fact, Jonathan Trigg suggests that Luther did not derive
his understanding of Baptism as the death and burial
of the sinner and the resurrection of the new creature
through Christs death and resurrection, as described in
Rom. 6:311 and Col. 2:1115, from his doctrine of justification,21 but that Luthers understanding of Baptism
shaped his teaching on justification. His concept of justification does seem rooted in Romans 6 and Romans 4:25,
where Paul asserts that Christ was handed over into death
for our sin and was raised to restore our righteousness, to
justify sinners.22 In Luthers German to justify referred
not only to the judges verdict of innocence. Rechtfertigen could also mean to do justice to a person. Luthers
understanding of the justification of sinners in baptism
used this definition.23 Sinners receive their just deserts in
Gods justification. They are buried as sinners so that they
may be re-created through the resurrection. The forensic
judgment of God kills before it makes alive.
Luthers forensic understanding of justification has
received much criticism in the last quarter century, in
part from heirs of the classical liberal critique of Albrecht
Ritschl and Adolf von Harnack, who wanted human
righteousness to be understood as upper bourgeois good
behavior that could construct the kingdom of God on
earth. Therefore, they argued that Luther defined justification in terms of its effectiveness in producing people
who produce good works.24 Recently, the argument that
Luthers understanding of salvation resembles the Eastern
Orthodox understanding of justification as divinization
or theosis advanced by the so-called Finnish or
Mannermaa school has won credence in some circles
as it sought on a radically different metaphysical foundation to emphasize what justification produces in terms
of Christian living. The founder of this school, Tuomo
Mannermaa, and many of his followers sincerely wanted
to cultivate devout Christian living, but they misinterpret Luther both historically and theologically when they
Jonathan D. Trigg, Baptism in the Theology of Martin Luther (Leiden:
Brill, 1994), 12.
21
22
Robert Kolb, Resurrection and Justification. Luthers Use of Romans

4,25, Lutherjahrbuch 78 (2011), 3960.
23
Werner Elert, Deutschrechtliche Zge in Luthers

Rechtfertigungslehre, in Ein Lehrer der Kirche, Kirchlich-theologische
Aufstze und Vortrge von Werner Elert, ed. Max Keller-Hschemenger
(Berlin, Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1967), 2331; Trigg, Baptism, 12.
James M. Stayer, Martin Luther, German Saviour. German Evangelical
Theological Factions and the Interpretation of Luther (Montreal: MicGill/
Queens University Press, 2000).
24
Justification as the Basis and Boundary of Theology, Lutheran

Quarterly 15 (2001): 273292.
20
11
ignore what forensic justification means within the context of Luthers thought.25 Gerhard Forde conveyed the
true nature of Luthers understanding of Gods speaking
us righteous when he asserted, The absolutely forensic
character of justification renders it effective justification actually kills and makes alive. It is, to be sure, not
only forensic but that is the case only because the more
forensic it is, the more effective it is!26 Gods forensic
judgment when He imputes sinners righteous, when
He regards them as righteous, when He pronounces His
verdict of innocent upon them that Word of the Lord,
like His Word in Genesis 1, determines reality, effectively!27
What Forde meant with his axiomatic quip is that
trust in Gods saying that we are righteous moves us to
recognize that we are passively! righteous in His
sight. In faith we cannot do anything else but live out that
passive righteousness actively, in the active righteousness
of love and service to the rest of Gods creatures. Gods
Word makes us alive, not to sin the more that grace may
abound (Rom. 6:1), but to demonstrate to the world that
our identity bestowed by Gods grace apart from any
merit or worthiness of our own, is real. That Word of
forgiveness restructures our entire way of thinking and
therefore of acting. The new creature it has called into
existence produces the fruits of faith, the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. If one finds that not to be the case, it is time to hear
again the Law that calls to repentance. Luther understood
that justification meant that the justified sinner acts like a
child of God and combats temptations, killing desires to
act against Gods will, in daily repentance.
Some accuse Luther of being fixated on the concept of
justification to the exclusion of other biblical descriptions
of salvation. Those who say that have not read his catechisms. There and throughout his writings he marshals
the richness of biblical descriptors of Gods saving action
in Christ.28 The word justification does not occur in the
25
Risto Saarinen, Justification by Faith. The View of the Mannermaa

School, in Oxford Handbook, 254263. Cf. the critique of Klaus
Schwarzwller, Verantwortung des Glaubens. Freiheit und Liebe nach
der Dekalogauslegung Martin Luthers, in Dennis Bielfeldt and Klaus
Schwarzwller, eds., Freiheit als Liebe bei Martin Luther/Freedom as
Love in Martin Luther (Frankfurt/M: Lang, 1995), 146148.
Gerhard Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life
(1982; Ramsey, NJ: Sigler, 1991), 36.
26
Small Catechism, his primer and confession of faith for

German children. What Christ accomplished for us is
instead defined as redemption Erlsung the loosing of the bonds that hold us captive, liberation. In fact,
his primary treatise on his teaching on justification bears
the title On Christian Freedom (1520).29
In his explanation of the second article of the Creed
in the Small Catechism Luther described the effect of
Christs death for sinners with the German erworben. The
usual English translation, to purchase, certainly is not
incorrect, but to acquire possession of would be clearer
and more precise. For it is not a monetary purchase
Luther quotes Peter that it is not a gold and silver kind of
acquisition but one with blood, not a price for buying
something but rather the visitation of what Gods Law
demands.30 The lamb did not give as many drops of blood
as Israel required that year to compensate for its sins
and then return to frolic in the field. The lamb died on
the altar of justification. This purchasing with Christs
sacrificial death has the result, Luther relates a few words
later, of our becoming his own, belonging to him, being
brought into his realm to live with him in everlasting
righteousness, innocence and blessedness.
That is what redemption means also in the Large Catechism, where Christ tears hell apart and drives Satan
out of the lives of those whom he had imprisoned. There
can be no doubt that Luther taught that Christs death is
vicarious, as He took our place before the Law and satisfied its demand for death (Rom. 6:21a). It is also clear that
Luther emphasized justification through Christs victorious resurrection; the Gospel is the telling of a true David
who tussled with sin, death, and the devil, and overcame
them, thereby rescuing all those who were captive in sin,
afflicted with death, and overpowered by the devil. Without any merit of their own, he made them righteous, gave
them life, and saved them, so that they were given peace
and brought back to God.31
Luther and his students did not hesitate to address
guilt as they proclaimed Gods Law, but they more often
talked about the anxiety and terror aroused by Gods
wrath over human guilt rather than about the feelings of
guilt itself. And they also proclaimed His liberation from
fears that had nothing to do with their own responsibility for perpetrating evil but rather from the threat from
27
Mark Mattes, Luther on Justification as Forensic and Effective, in

Oxford Handbook, 264273.
Ian D. Kingston Siggins, Martin Luthers Doctrine of Christ (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1970); cf. Mathieu Arnold, Luther on
Christs Person and Work, Oxford Handbook, 276293.
28
12
29
WA 8:573669; LW 44:251400.
30
BSELK, BC.
31
WA BD6:4,311, LW 35:358.
the world and Satan in all its many forms. The preaching
of the Wittenberg instructors and their students aimed at
bringing Christ into their hearers consciousness to liberate them from feelings of estrangement, alienation and
abandonment and from their terrors in the face of death.
The mention of justification in Luthers preaching abolished perverted perceptions of the hearers own identities
that cast them back upon themselves or other idols they
had fashioned as replacements for their Creator. Justification was for Luther the restoration of true identity as
Gods children, righteousness before God and the trust
that recognizes that identity in that aspect of who we are
and drives us to act out the secondary identities God has
given us as those created to praise Him and to serve and
love His other creatures.
In a world chasing after false identities and seeking rest
and protection in false havens and in false standards for
evaluating life, Luthers insight that we can never find
sufficient justification for our existence in our own performance or in any created substituted for God as He has
revealed himself in Jesus of Nazareth restores stability,
order and peace to troubled consciences. Everything falls
into its proper place when Christ comes to the center of
life and our trust in Him embraces all we think and do,
the Wittenberg reformer insisted. According to Luther,
Christs justification of sinners restores our righteousness,
our Shalom, the fullness of our humanity. What Luther
saw then in the pages of Scripture speaks volumes now.
All reality flows from the creative, sustaining, re-creative Word of the Lord, according to Wittenberg theology.
Luthers unique understanding of Gods Word and how it
functions set it apart from the superstitious use of words
in medieval theology as the Wittenberg theologians
defined it and the symbolic use of words that arose out
of platonic presuppositions among other reform-minded
critics of that medieval view. Luthers perception that
God actually acts in this world through oral, written and
sacramental forms of His Word has caused some difficulties for Lutherans in conversations with other Christians
over the past centuries. There is less reason for this issue
to continue to be a stumbling block because of the recent
discussion among linguists of what is called performative speech.32 Luthers view goes beyond what linguists
have seen as the impact of words governed in large part
by social constructions and conventions. Luther asserted
that when God speaks, new realities come into being and
that all reality has its origin in God speaking. That means
that nothing can be more real than the person whose
righteousness has been restored to the Edenic identity
enjoyed before the fall by Adam and Eve.
In a world in which we experience that words can
hurt us even more than sticks and stones, to know that
the Word of the Lord performs what it promises, delivers what it declaims, gives more solid assurance of what
is real than an umpires decisive call, than a judges determination of innocence. Gods re-creative Word gives
twenty-first century hearers the solid foundation of the
promise ringing out from Calvary and the property of
Joseph of Arimathea. What Luther saw then in the pages
of Scripture speaks volumes now.
There are any number of elements in Luthers teaching and the teaching of his colleague Philip Melanchthon
and their students, especially Martin Chemnitz, David
Chytraeus and Jakob Andreae, whose confessional works
we accept as our confession, that can speak to our cultures around the world, if properly translated. Among the
topics that could be treated are the reformers theology
of the cross, the Lords Supper and Luthers concept of
vocation. But we should also look at the modus operandi
of the Wittenberg theologians, which can provide vital
models for us as we give witness to the biblical message in
their train in the twenty-first century.
Luther was a translator. He not only rendered the Bible
into the sterling German that helped shape how Germans
talk and write to this day, he translated the message of the
Bible into the culture of German-speaking people. James
Nestingen has pointed out how Yale Divinity School
missiologist Lamin Sannehs recognition of Christianity
as a way of life inextricably involved in translation helps
elucidate what Luther was doing as he translated Mediterranean expressions of the faith into words and concepts
that German-speaking children could grasp.33 Born a
Muslim in the Gambia, Sanneh perceived the contrast
between Islam, in which Arabic is the language which
all Muslims should learn to read the Koran and to pray
properly, and the Christian faith. In Christianity God has
translated Himself into human flesh; the gospels translate almost all that Jesus said into Greek from His native
tongue; and missionaries immediately set to translating
Scripture and other books into native languages when
33
Oswald Bayer, Theology the Lutheran Way, trans. Jeffrey G. Silcock

and Mark C. Mattes (Grand Rapids: Eerdrmans, 2007), 125138.
32
Luthers Cultural Translation of the Catechism, Lutheran Quarterly

15 (2001), 440452. Cf. Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message, The
Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1989).
13
they begin a new mission. Luther recognized that the never-changing, always-moving Creator depicted in the Old
Testament is deeply involved in the flow of human history
and that on Pentecost He addresses a host of tribes and
nations in their own tongues.
Luther thoroughly appreciated this aspect of Gods
person, who falls into conversation with His human
creatures within every cultural context that springs from
His creative hand, taking seriously the grand variety of
human cultures that reflect not only Babels fall but also
His own ultimate complexity. Therefore, while he stood
fast on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith
in Christ alone, Luther was able to express it in a host of
ways, applying and formulating the Gospel for specific
situations as he encountered them. He was open to a variety of forms of polity for the church, and he did not try to
impose uniformity in ritual as Rome did, with more ease
than ever, through the agency of the printing press.
In an age in which, within one society, cultures differing in language, customs, worldviews and other factors
exist alongside each other, Luther-like trust in the Holy
Spirits governance of the Church demands experimentation within the community to find the proper ways of
expressing the Gospel and explaining the Law for the
people to whom God sends us, enjoying fellowship with
those who express a common confession in a variety of
translations. Lutherans have proclaimed the Gospel of
Jesus Christ into at least four different cultural situations.
In the sixteenth century the Lutheran Church became the
establishment church in large parts of central and northern Europe. But also in the sixteenth century Lutherans
lived in churches under persecution, particularly in
Eastern Europe. Before the end of the sixteenth century,
Lutherans had also begun mission churches in northern stretches of Sweden, and soon thereafter brought
the Gospel to the Delaware, and in the course of the
seventeenth century tried to establish mission churches
in western Africa and the Caribbean. By 1706, mission
efforts began to establish enduring Lutheran churches in
Asia as well. Also in the seventeenth century, immigrants
from Europe began establishing immigrant churches, first
in the Americas, then in South Africa and Australia. In
each of these forms of Church Luthers message spoke to
the culture around it.
Luther formulated a way of being Christs people in
whatever society and culture God has placed His chosen.
H. Richard Niebuhr dubbed Luthers approach to the
churchs place in human cultures Christ and culture in
14
paradox. It is more aptly described as Christs people and

culture in two dimensions, two realms. In what seems to
be becoming a more hostile world, Luthers twenty-first
century followers must resist the temptation to drift into
what Niebuhr labeled a Christ of culture model or into
a Christ against culture pattern. The household of faith
needs Lutheran witness to Luthers manner of practicing sharp critique of societys sins while affirming Gods
extravagant gift of the blessings of ones own culture.34
That means that in the immediate future, establishment
and immigrant Lutheran churches have more to learn
from those in the lands of persecution and mission than
to teach our sisters and brothers there. That means that
such conversations are necessary to insure proper translation of Luthers insights.
Humanly speaking, Luthers message spread not only
because it addressed human perception of needs but also
because, more or less by accident, Luther discovered how
to use the most effective technology at hand. He did not
see the potential of movable type for serving the reform of
the church, but printers saw the potential for the marketing of his thoughts on indulgences and then quickly on a
host of other subjects. Luther himself did not drag his feet
but quickly became a master at combining his words with
Lukas Cranachs images, in order to spread the message of
Scripture to a wide readership. The cultural appreciation
that came naturally to Luther also led to his recognizing
the value of other disciplines for aiding theology, including the study of literature and history, and above all of
the arts of communication, rhetoric and dialectic. His
friend Philip Melanchthon drew upon the developing
so-called humanistic program to lead a return to ancient
sources and to emphasize the necessity of using the skills
God implants for the service of proclaiming salvation in
Christ.
Luther recognized both the promise and the ambiguity of new technology and new modes of communication.
In a world in which Gods material blessings flow richly
with gifts that can aid our thinking and our communicating, new modes of communicating can also be hijacked
by Satan. Further complicating matters, disciplines always
carry ideological baggage and need Christ critique. In
such a world, Luthers ability to marshal technology as
well as an array of colleagues and their teaching across
the spectrum of the curriculum of the time should serve
34
Robert Kolb, Niebuhrs Christ and Culture in Paradox Revisited,

Lutheran Quarterly 10 (1996): 259279.
as a model for us. Luthers emphasis on literacy endowed

us sociologically with a kind of upward social mobility.
As our people assume more and more responsibility in
a range of disciplines and societal positions, this emphasis can serve us well as we use these gifts to exercise the
responsibilities of leadership and learning which God
gives us in Church and society. What Luther saw then in
the pages of Scripture speaks volumes now.
Finally, the modus operandi of the Wittenberg theologians rested on the fundamental distinction necessary
for the proper functioning of Gods conversations with
His human creatures, the distinction between Gods plan
for human living and Gods re-creative saving activity in
the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Luthers way of thinking emerged in the poles between
Gods Word the Holy Scriptures, the source of truth
and the need to apply that Word in effective pastoral care, which called sinners to repentance and forgave,
comforted, and empowered the repentant. In 1532 Luther
called this distinction the noblest skill in the Christian
church, for both Law and Gospel are Gods Word but
both can be lost if they are jumbled together and not correctly distinguished from each other.35 Whoever knows
well how to distinguish the Gospel from the Law should
give thanks to God and know that he is a real theologian,
he commented in 1532.36 Luthers concept of Law defined
it broadly as the whole counsel of Gods design for human
life but also quite focused on the first commandment as
his catechisms in 152937 and his preface to the prophets
of 1532 amply demonstrate.38 What caused people to hurt
and harm neighbors and to fail to help and befriend them
in every bodily need was their failure to fear and love
and trust in God, above all that He had made. That
means that the crushing force of the Law that produces
true repentance, as Luther depicted it with the image of
rock and hammer in the Smalcald Articles (Jer. 23:29)39
attacks the hole that lack of true faith makes at the heart
of our lives, whether that hole becomes obvious when we
are perpetrating sin or suffering it. Our second and pri35
WA 36:8,1410,18, 25,134. Cf. 36:28,1216, 3338. Cf. Robert Kolb,

The Noblest Skill in the Christian Church: Luthers Sermons on the
Proper Distinction of Law and Gospel, Concordia Theological Quarterly
71 (2007): 301318.
36
WA 40, 1:207,34; LW 26:115.
37
BSELK 862/863, 930/931, BC 351, 386392.
mary use of the Law points people to their sin, above all
against the First Commandment that is, to their failure
to fear, love and trust in their Creator and Redeemer over
everything else in life that the Gospel may draw them
to Christ. It does that by accusing, to be sure, but it begins
the process often by crushing and cracking the false gods
in other ways as well.
Gods plan for human life continues to crush the pretensions of all the false gods we fashion while it remains Gods
good design for our lives. We can deal neither with the
crushing force of its accusations or with the great potential for its help in charting lives of peace and joy without
the Holy Spirits application of the re-creating power of the
Gospel of Christ in our lives. The bestowal of a new identity through Christs death and resurrection transform the
reality of our lives through the Gospels forgiving, life-restoring, consoling, empowering action in the Word in oral,
written and sacramental forms. What Luther saw then in
the pages of Scripture speaks volumes now.
Amnesia is a terrible thing, yet far worse are counterfeit
memories, changed to fit our predilections, altered to teach
history what we wish it could teach us. A living and lively
historical memory is a great blessing, particularly when it
is directed toward Gods work of blessing His Church with
the Gospel. That is certainly the case when we reflect on the
career and message of Martin Luther. Furthermore, there
is no reason to remember if not to get insights for translation into our own culture and to invite Luthers critique of
what we are doing. Above all, we need to heed his call to
repent as part of our lives as Christians. Neither forgetting
nor condemning, neither idolizing nor merely praising, but
engaging Luther in earnest dialogue this should be the
goal of our reflection on our own tradition. If he cannot
critique what we are doing and offer suggestions for what
we might do in the future, our gaze back five hundred years
will be no more than entertainment, and little more than
basking in our own image. The form of his address was
molded within his own culture and experience and bound
by sixteenth-century forms. His insights into the Word of
the Lord, however, can be translated as he translated Scripture and the tradition of the Church: into our times and
our places, as different as they are in our several corners of
Gods world. What Luther saw then in the pages of Scripture speaks volumes now.
38
WA DB11,1:2,115,29, LW35:265273, cf. Maurice E. Schild,

Abendlndische Bibelvorreden bis zur Lutherbibel (Gtersloh: Mohn,
1970), 213233.
39
BSELK 750/751752/753, BC 312313.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Kolb is professor emeritus at Concordia

Seminary, St. Louis.
15
Is it a miracle that the Lutheran

Church is even in existence today?
Reformation in
New Lands and Tongues
This article takes a look at some of

the more radical critics of Luther
and Lutheranism.
by Lawrence R. Rast, Jr.
Introduction
ts a miracle that there is a Lutheran Church Nuncio who wrote these words, doubted their veracity.
today. In many ways, Lutheranism as a movement is As he related his experience to Cardinal De Medici in a
an unlikely success story. It was born in an out of the letter from Worms dated Feb. 8, 1521, he repeatedly tried
way place, in a university that was still in its youth, led to underscore the extent to which Luthers views had perby an unlikely monk. But God uses out of the way places, meated German life. Noting that the Germans have lost
youthfulness and unlikely, earthen vessels to accomplish all reverence and laugh at excommunications, he comHis purposes. If we learn nothing else from the plained that a shower of Lutheran writings in German
Reformation, it should be just how remarkably gracious and Latin comes out daily. There is even a press maintained here, where hitherto this art has been unknown.
God really is.
As we remember what God has done, we also repent Nothing else is bought here except Luthers books even in
over our failings (and well recount several of those in the the imperial court. Worst of all, perhaps, Aleander noted
that a little while ago at Augsburg
next few minutes) and rejoice over
they were selling Luthers picture
the unfailing promises of the future,
with a halo; it as offered without the
which, of course, are in Gods hands.
Its a miracle that
halo for sale here (in Worms), and all
Let us consider our topic, Reforthere is a Lutheran
1
the copies were disposed of in a trice
mation in New Lands and Tongues.
Church today. In many
before I could get one. And finally,
Luther and emerging
ways, Lutheranism as a
If I sent all these shameful writings I
Lutheranism
movement is an unlikely should have to load a wagon.3
But now the whole of Germany is in
There is a sense in which, during
success story.
full revolt; nine-tenths raise the warthe first years of the Reformacry, Luther, while the watchword of
tion, especially from the 95 Theses
the other tenth who are indifferent to Luther, is: Death to to the Diet of Worms, Lutheranism extended itself in
the Roman Curia.2 Whether a full 90 percent of Germany a remarkable fashion. Starting from Electoral Saxony,
was truly supportive of Luther is likely an exaggeration. Lutheranism first reached Hesse. It then made its way into
Yet there is no reason to doubt that Aleander, the Papal East Friesland as early as 1519. By 1520 Lutheran communities were in evidence in Treptow, Pommerania (this
1 For a most helpful overview of the extension of Lutheranism in the
through the work of the great Johannes Bugenhagen).
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, see Klaus Detlev Schulz, Lutheran
Breslau followed in 1522, along with Nuremberg under
th
th
Missiology in the 16 and 17 Centuries, Lutheran Synod Quarterly
43: 453. Also invaluable is Klaus Detlev Schulz, Mission from the Cross:
Pastors Besler, Pmer and Osiander, with Mecklenberg,
The Lutheran Theology of Mission (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
Frankfurt am Main and Strassburg joining the movement
House, 2009). See especially 302303, The Spread of Lutheran Mission
Work, where Schulz notes that Lutheran mission work spreads in
in 1523. Amsdorf s work brought Magdeburg and Ulm in
three basic ways: (1) publications of Gospel literature; (2) missionaries
during 1524. In Bremen all the churches, with the excepsent by Lutheran rulers, churches, and mission societies; and (3)
Lutheran congregations established by immigrants.
tion of the cathedral, had Lutheran preachers by 1525.
2 Preserved Smith and Charles M. Jacobs, Luthers Correspondence
Bugenhagen continued his work in Hamburg and Brunsand Other Contemporary Letters (Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication
wick in 1528. Anhalt and Westphalia followed in 1532,
Society, 1913), 455. A portion of the letter is also quoted in the fine
new biography of the Elector Frederick the Wise. See Sam Wellman,
Frederick the Wise: Seen and Unseen Lives of Martin Luthers Protector
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2015), 204.
16
Smith and Jacobs, Luthers Correspondence, 460.
and Wrttemburg in 1534.

Implicit in the preceding is the importance of that
But Lutheranism was to spread into other lands. most popular of Luthers texts and as a result the one
Lutheranism also began to extend itself beyond Germany: most translated the Small Catechism. In the seveninto Brandenburg Prussia, 1525; Sweden, 1527; Denmark teenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Small
and Norway, 1537; Iceland, 1551. In Livonia and Esto- Catechism appeared in various languages in the Amernia it first appeared in 1520 and had come to dominate ican Colonies and the United States. Succeeding Reorus
by 1539. By 1549 it was in Courland, Russia. It gained Torkillus as pastor in the colony of New Sweden in 1643,
a footing in Transylvania in 1557; in Poland in 1573; in Johann Campanius (16011683) intentionally engaged
Hungary in 1606; in Bohemia and Moravia in 1609.4
the Lenape Indians who lived in the area of New Sweden.
And Lutheranism was to appear in other tongues. Having first learned their language he eventually gained
One of the key ways that Luthers teachings spread was sufficient ability to preach to the Native Americans. In
through his prolific literary output, as well as that of his time he was able to transliterate their words, numbers
colleagues. Students from countries outside of Saxony and common phrases. He ultimately gained sufficient
(both German speaking and otherwise), who came to facility in their language to translate Luthers Small CateWittenberg University to hear, and those who simply read chism into Lenape, notable as one of the first attempts by
the works of Luther and his coworkers determined to a European to create a written document in the language
translate these works into their own languages. As berg of Native Americans.7
captures it: The fact that 5,000 foreign students studied
Two centuries later another Lutheran pastor would
the sermons and lectures of Luther and his colleagues in engage in a similar endeavor. Friedrich August Crmer,
Wittenberg from 1520-1560 contributed to the expansion pastor of Saint Lorenz congregation in Frankenmuth,
and consolidation of Lutheranism. The mission dimen- Michigan, began to translate the Small Catechism into the
sion that Luther had communicated
language of the Ojibwa Indians.8 His
went forth in this way to his conefforts were supplemented by those
As
we
remember
what
5
temporaries and their descendants.
of missionary Edward Baierlein,
God has done, we also
And we should number ourselves
who served the Bethany Indian misrepent
over
our
failings
among those descendants.
sion for a number of years.9 Finally,
In 1557 Primus Truber translated
Arthur Repp has tracked the innu and rejoice over the
and published the Gospel of Matunfailing promises of the merable editions of Luthers Small
thew in the Slavic language of the
Catechism that have appeared in
future,
which,
of
course,
Croats and Wends. Later he added
the English language in the Amerare in Gods hands.
other resources, including other
ican Colonies and United States.
parts of the New Testament, Luthers
His Luthers Catechism Comes to
catechisms, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, Mel- America illustrates the degree to which Luthers Small
anchthons Loci, the Wrttemberg Church Discipline, and Catechism served as a means of joining isolated Luthera book of spiritual songs. These were all important tools ans together in confession, even while they remained
for mission work. One of the more interesting instances isolated from one another geographically.10
of translation occurred when the Augsburg Confession in
Greek was brought to Constantinople in 1559 and again 7
See Nils Magnus Holmer, John Campanius Lutheran Catechism in the
in 1573.6
Delaware Language (Uppsala: A.b. Lundequistska bokhandeln, 1946);
Israel Acrelius, History of New Sweden; Or, The Settlement on the River
Delaware (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1876).
This and the previous paragraph are summarized from J. N.

Lenker, Lutherans in All Lands: The Wonderful Works of God, 4th ed.
(Milwaukee: Lutherans in All Lands Company, 1894), 19, 21.
5 Indemar berg, Luther
and World Mission: A Historical and Systematic

Study with Special Reference to Luthers Bible Exposition, trans. Dean
Apel (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), 494.
George Mastrantonis, Augsburg and Constantinople: The
Correspondence between the Tbingen Theologians and Patriarch
Jeremiah II of Constantinople on the Augsburg Confession (Brookline,
MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1982).
6
Lawrence R. Rast, Jr., Friedrich August Crmer: Faithful Servant in

Christs Church, Concordia Theological Quarterly 64 (January 2000):
5153, online at http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/rastcramerservant.pdf,
accessed April 15, 2015.
Edward R. Baierlein and Harold W. Moll, In the Wilderness with the
Red Indians: German Missionary to the Michigan Indians 18471853
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1996).
9
Arthur C. Repp, Luthers Catechism Comes to America: Theological

Effects on the Issues of the Small Catechism Prepared in or for America
Prior to 1850 (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1982).
10
17
At the same time, Lutheranism was not received well prison and death.13
everywhere. Oliver Olson has chronicled the struggles
Oliver Olson argues that As long as the Smalcald
of Lutherans in several of the European countries out- League remained in power Venice was reluctant to offend
side of Germany.11 While there was not a large number of the evangelical princes. But on the very day of the Leagues
Lutheran martyrs, their presence is irrefutable. The first defeat, April 24, 1547, Doge Francesco Dona opened his
martyrs of the Lutheran confession were in Holland in city to the Sant Uffizio and appointed three lay represen1523. But others were to follow.
tatives of the Council of Ten, Nicola Tiepolo, Francesco
12
Antonio Corvinus was born on Feb. 27, 1501. Given Contarmi, and Antonio Venier, to cooperate with the
his uncertain parentage (he may have been a bastard), clerical members, the Patriarch, the Father Inquisitor, and
it is not surprising to find that he entered the Cistercian Della Casa as Sages on Heresy.14
monastery in Loccum, Lower Saxony, in 1519. Shortly
Following the last trial he was officially degraded and
thereafter he became a supporter of Luther and was driven executed, likely during the night of Sept. 1718, 1556.
out. He used the opportunity to study at Wittenberg Olson describes the execution as follows:
under Luther and Melanchthon, and
At the dead hour of midnight the
later served pastorates in Goslar and
prisoner was taken from his cell
Witzenhausen. He advised Philip of
and put into a gondola or Venetian
There is a rich
Hesse, drafted a church order and led
boat, attended only, besides the
missiology that has
the Reformation in northern areas of
sailors, by a single priest, to act as
moved the Reformation
Germany.
confessor. He was rowed out into
into
other
lands
and
In 1548 the Roman Catholic ruler
the sea beyond the Two Castles,
Erich II (of Braunschweig-Calenwhere another boat was waiting.
expressed its confession
berg-Gttingen)
accepted
the
A plank was then laid across the
in other tongues.
Augsburg Interim. Corvinus, along
two gondolas, upon which the
with other Lutheran pastors, proprisoner, having his body chained,
tested vigorously against the Interim, which led to his
and a heavy stone affixed to his feet, was placed; and,
arrest and jailing on Nov. 2, 1549. Happily for Corvion a signal given, the gondolas retiring from one
nus, his conditions were relatively comfortable, perhaps
another, he was precipitated into the deep.15
defeating the purpose of trying to force his acceptance
Tensions also ran high in Sweden and Denmark (for
of the Interim. On Oct. 21, 1552, he was released. He both religious and political reasons). With the support of
re-entered active ministry in Hannover and died shortly Pope Leo X, Christian II of Denmark invaded Sweden in
thereafter April 11, 1553.
Baldo Lupetino was born into Venetian nobility,
13 Luther himself wrote regarding Lupetino: We have found out that
though his birthdate is uncertain (either 1492 or 1502). your country Italy is the location of pious and honest men in sad
In the mid-1530s he entered a Franciscan monastery in trouble, the devotees of pure Christian faith. It is said that they are
going through hard persecutions only because they embraced the
Lower Labin. During Lent in 1541 he openly advocated Gospel and because they want to glorify it and spread it everywhere.
Lutheran ideas, denying the freedom of the will and argu- Therefore we, who carefully try to follow the letter of the Holy Gospel
and uphold it in all churches, are overwhelmed with deep and honest
ing that Christ had fully atoned for human sin. He also sympathy toward those God-loving men; because our Christian hearts
reportedly addressed the doctrine of predestination. He understand the great suffering and bitter tears of those who suffer for
was arrested in December 1542 and tried in 1543, 1547 the evangelical truth. As we have been notified that, by the order of the
Roman Pope, among other men Baldo Lupetino has also been charged,
and 1556, where he was variously sentenced to life in a man with noteworthy virtues and profound knowledge, and that he is
11
See, for example, Oliver K. Olson, The Rise and Fall of the Antwerp
Martinists, Lutheran Quarterly 1 (1987): 105111.
Nanne van der Zijpp, Corvinus, Antonius (15011553), Global
Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, http://www.gameo.org/
encyclopedia/contents/corvinus_antonius_1501_1553, accessed August 4,
2013. I used the examples of Corvinus and Lupetino also in my paper,
A Confessional, Dogmatic View of Martyrdom and the Cross, which
appeared in the Journal of Lutheran Mission 2 (September 2014): 3649.
12
18
locked up in prison with his life in danger, we felt that it is our duty to
intervene on his behalf and on the behalf of others. D. Martin Luthers
Briefwechsel, vol. 10, Briefe 15421544, Nr. 3884 (pp. 327328); See
also Mirko Breyer, About the man from Istria, friar Baldo Lupetina
(15021556), Istra 14/2 (1976): 38. Available at http://www.flacius.net/
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110%3Alutherovo
pismo&catid=57%3Abaldolupetina&Itemid=64&lang=en, accessed
April 15, 2015.
Olson, Baldo Lupetino: Venetian Martyr, Lutheran Quarterly 7
(Spring 1993): 11.
14
15
Ibid., 14.
1519. He succeeded in taking Stockholm in September mans Spanish that would have been a new tongue for
1520, and on November 8-9 1520, executed more than Lutherans. The Diet produced the document known as
eighty Swedish nobles for heresy, the so-called Stock- the Augsburg Interim, written by Julius Pflug, Michael
holm Bloodbath. Further executions followed, spreading Helding and the Lutheran Johann Agricola, which was
in both Sweden and Finland. The bloodbath outraged the pronounced by the emperor May 15, 1548. The purpose
Swedes and acted as a catalyst for resisting the Danes. By of this document was both theological and political in
1522 Gustav I Vasa was able, with the help of the peasants orientation; it sought to regulate outwardly and tempoof the Dalarna region and the Hanseatic League, to drive rally the affairs of the Church until the Council of Trent
the Danes out of Sweden. Vasas reign extended from would finally settle the religious controversy precipitated
1523 to 1560, and during his time he was able to secure by the evangelicals. It reintroduced many of the abolished
the translation into Swedish of the Biblia Thet r All Roman Catholic practices such as the jurisdiction of bishthen Helgha Scrifft p Swensko, in 15401541, commonly ops, transubstantiation and the seven sacraments. These
known as the Gustav Vasa Bible.16
emphases led to the characterization
Even as Lutheranism spread into
that the document was a first step
other lands and was translated into
back towards the fully returning the
It is only through
other tongues, in its German homeReformation churches to the Roman
the proclamation of
land it would struggle mightily.
Catholic fold.
the Gospel that God
Following the proclamation of
Lutheranism after Luther
miraculously works
the Interim, Charles V went forth
The theological and political chaos
faith when and where it
with his army and began to subjugate
that followed Luthers death on Feb.
southern Germany to the Interim.
pleases Him.
18, 1546, is a story likely well known
The army was followed by priests
to us all. The Great Reformer harwho reconsecrated the cathedrals
bored misgivings about the future of the evangelical of the South to the Roman Catholic Church. Cities such
movement preceding his death; he feared that shortly as Strassburg, Ulm and Constance were subjected to the
after his death dissension would overtake the evangeli- Interim and political power was transferred from Protescal party with disastrous effects. He was correct both tant families to those loyal to Charles Habsburg agenda.
theologically and politically. In June 1546, roughly four
Meanwhile, Moritz of Saxony, who had betrayed
months following Luthers death, Charles V entered Ernestine Saxony and usurped the electoral authority to
into his German War against the Smalcaldic League and himself by making a treaty with Charles V to the effect
soundly defeated the league at the battle of Mhlberg on that Moritz would fight with the emperor in return for the
the Elbe, April 24, 1547.17 Following his victory at Mhl- guarantee of territory and the title of elector, helped the
berg, Charles convened what has come to be known as emperor in his efforts to subjugate Elector John Frederick
the Armored Diet at Augsburg (due to the presence of by invading his land while he was away in the Smalcald
Charles army). Charles, elated with his victory over the War. But Moritz was uncomfortable with the provisions
German princes, promised that he would teach the Ger- of the Interim and sought a Saxon solution that would
enable him to gain the support of his evangelical subjects
and at the same time keep the emperor from invading
16 For an excellent treatment of Lutheranism in Scandinavia, see Eric
Lund, Nordic and Baltic Lutheranism, in Robert Kolb, ed. Lutheran
Saxony.18
Ecclesiastical Culture 15501675 (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008),
The Augsburg Interim and its successor, the Leipzig
411454.
Interim, failed. In time Moritz betrayed Charles V, finally
17 This war has generally come to be called the Smalcald War. Let the
reader keep in mind the purposes of Charles V in pursuing this tact. He
leading to a tenuous peace, which was declared on Sept.
was not simply a power hungry despot, but felt he was serving God and
25, 1555. However, while the Religious Peace of Augsthe Church by trying to restore political and religious unity to the Holy
Roman Empire. For treatments of the Smalcald League see Thomas
burg brought the battles to an end, its solution would have
A. Brady, Jr., Phases and Strategies of the Schmalkaldic League: A
Perspective after 450 Years, Archiv fr Reformationgeschichte 74 (1983),
162181; Theodore Hoyer, The Rise and Fall of the Schmalkaldic
League: The Treaty of Passau, 1552, Concordia Theological Monthly
23 (1952), 40117 and The Religious Peace of Augsburg, Concordia
Theological Monthly 26 (1955), 82030.
18
The fear that motivated Moritz toward this end should not be
underestimated; he expected the emperor to invade Saxony at any
time and subject it to the same treatment that southern Germany had
experienced.
19
ramifications for the mission of the Church. The commonly-known principle, cuius regio eius religio (whose
realm, his religion) would become the operative principle for allowing the competing Lutheran and Roman
Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire to peacefully
(if not happily) coexist (the Reformed would be included
after the Peace of Westphalia [1648], but not the Anabaptists). But the price of peace for religious extension was
captured in paragraph 23:
23. [Prohibition of Religious Coercion] No estate
shall induce anothers subjects to accept his religion
and abandon the others, nor shall he take those
subjects under his protection or in any way defend
them in such actions. This rule, however, is not
intended to apply to the obligations of those who
have long been subject to their lords rule, which shall
remain undiminished.19
In time, the linking of the Church with the State under
the authority of the prince, would prove to impact of the
extension of Lutheranism.20
Lutheran orthodoxy saying no to mission?

One doesnt have to look hard to find criticisms of the
lack of mission perspective. For example, James Scherer,
in a section titled Lutheran Orthodoxy: Saying No to
Mission, writes: Luthers biblically based conviction
about the proclamation of the Gospel to the whole creation and his confidence in the ultimate triumph of Gods
kingdom gave way to dogmatic hairsplitting and ecclesiastical retrenchment.21 Lyle Vander Werff, in describing
the challenge to the Orthodox Lutherans to recognize
the continuing validity of Matt. 28:19, described their
response as follows: In true orthodox fashion, they
rejected his [Erhardt Truchsesss] challenge.22
Two assessments have been particularly dominant.
In the late nineteenth century, Gustav Warneck wrote,
in his long and influential article in the New Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia, that among the Orthodox Lutherans
the missionary idea was lacking because the comprehension of a continuous missionary duty of the Church
was limited among the Reformers and their successors
by a narrow-minded dogmatism combined with a lack
of historical sense.23 Further, in his extremely influential
Outline of a History of Protestant Missions, he states: We
miss in the Reformers not only missionary action, but
even the idea of missions, in the sense in which we understand them today . Luther did not think of proper
missions to the heathen, i.e. of a regular sending of messengers of the Gospel to non-Christian nations, with the
view of Christianizing them Luthers mission sphere
was, if we may so say, the paganized Christian church.24
More recently, David Bosch has argued that Lutheran
Orthodoxy led to pessimism and passivity in mission.
Pessimism and passivity had a yet deeper cause: the
dark view of history in Lutheran orthodoxy. Nicolai
expected the parousia to take place around the
year 1670. The urgency of the imminent end of the
world still acted as a motivation for mission in his
case. In the course of the seventeenth century this
would change. The situation in the church became
so lamentable, particularly in the eyes of Gottfried
Arnold (16661714), that the focus was no longer
on the conviction that Christ and his reign would
be triumphant, but on the fearful question whether
Christ, when he returned, would find any faith on
earth. This question destroyed all possibility of
joyfully witnessing to Christ.25
As the preceding quotes show, some lay the fault for
this at the feet of Luther himself; others condemn the
Lutheran Orthodox. In respect to the latter, they identify
the worst expressions of this lack of mission mindedness
with the following. First, there is Philip Nicolais De Regno
Christi (On the Kingdom of Christ), which demonstrated that every region [of the world] had encountered
the preaching of the Gospel by way of the apostles.26
Gustav Warneck, Missions to the Heathen, New SchaffHerzog
Encyclopedia, 404.
23
19
The Religious Peace of Augsburg, September 25, 1555, online

at http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/pdf/eng/Doc.67ENG
ReligPeace1555_en.pdf, accessed April 15, 2015.
20
For an exploration of the roots of this thinking in Luther, see Lewis

W. Spitz, Luthers Ecclesiology and His Concept of the Prince as
Notbischof, Church History 22 (June 1953): 113141.
James A. Scherer, Gospel, Church, & Kingdom: Comparative Studies
in World Mission Theology (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1987), 66. See also
James A. Scherer, Misison and Unity in Lutheranism (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1969), 1316.
21
Lyle L. Vander Werff, Christian Mission to Muslims: The Record

(Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1977), 19.
22
20
Gustave Warneck, Outline of a History of Protestant Missions from

the Reformation to the Present Time, with an Appendix concerning
Roman Catholic Missions (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1906, original
German edition published in 1881), 910. See also Wolfgang Grel,
Die Stellung der lutherischen Kirche Deutschlands zur Mission im 17.
Jahrhundert (Leipzig: O. Schmidt, 1895), 6, 1516, 27, 30.
24
David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of

Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991), 251.
25
Philipp Nicolai, Commentarii de regno Christi, vaticiniis propheticis

et apostolicis accommodate (Francofurti ad Moenum, 1597). Schulz,
Mission from the Cross, 263.
26
Second, Gerhard reproduced Nicolai and then furthered

it by developing theological implications of the work in
Loci Theologici. Finally, and perhaps most notoriously,
was the gutachten, or opinion, of the theology faculty
of the University of Wittenberg, publicized on April 24,
1652. This response, says Schulz, was submitted as an
answer to the queries (scruples) of an Austrian, Reichsgraf Ehrhardt von Wetzhausen from Vienna, who wanted
to know how the Orient, Meridian, and Occident could
be converted to the salutary faith when he sees no one of
the Augsburg Confession go there to preach and to save
as much as 100,000 people from damnation.27
Several responses to the critiques of the Orthodox
Lutherans suggest themselves. First, it has to be recognized that there is some legitimacy to the critiques,
as Schulz rightly notes.28 Beyond that, however, many
of those who criticized the Orthodox Lutherans seem
to have simply taken Warnecks critique at face value,
and Warnecks critique does suffer from being rather
anachronistic, blaming the Orthodox Lutherans for not
understanding mission in the manner of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. Nevertheless, we need not be
threatened by such critiques. The Churchs execution of
the mission entrusted to it will always be limited in its
application, given the human and fallible people who
carry it out. Nevertheless, God is gracious and accomplishes His purposes despite our weaknesses.
Rather, even as we remember this day, we also repent
and rejoice. For if the Orthodox Lutherans were as
opposed to mission as more radical interpreters claim, it
is unlikely that any of us would be gathered here today.
Without the extension of the Lutheran confession into
other lands and tongues, if it was limited simply to Germany, this would be, at the very least, a significantly
smaller gathering this week. Yet here we are, gathered
together from the ends of the earth and representing
some forty Lutheran church bodies spread throughout
the world. A more considered perspective is offered by
berg, who writes: Against Warneck and Elert, we must
assert that the mission work led and supported by the
state and the state church is true and genuine mission.29
As the litany of expansion shared earlier in this paper
shows, many Lutherans were eager to share the Gospel as
rediscovered by the Wittenberg Reformation. One exam27
Schulz, Mission from the Cross, 266.
28
Schulz, Lutheran Missiology, 3537.
29
berg, Luther and World Mission, 500.
ple of this is the Lutheran experience in Hungary. David

P. Daniels marvelous treatment, Lutheranism in the
Kingdom of Hungary, traces in some detail the twists and
turns of the reforming movements in Hungary as Lutheranism struggled to germinate, take root, and blossom. It
was never an easy matter.30
Individuals also played key roles in extending Lutheranism into other lands and translating it into other
tongues. The Gustav Vasa Bible mentioned above was
largely a product of the efforts of Laurentius Andreae,
Olaus Petri and Laurentius Petri. But perhaps no single
person embodies the sense of the title assigned to me
more than Peter Heyling. He truly established Lutheranism in other lands and other tongues.31
Born into a wealthy family in Lbeck, Germany (his
father was a goldsmith) in 16071608, Heyling studied
law and theology in Paris under the Dutch jurist, historian
and theologian, Hugo Grotius (15831645) from 1628
1632. Grotius engendered in him a desire to rejuvenate
the ancient Churches of the Orient and infuse them with
new evangelical life. (21). Travels in Italy and France
were followed by Heylings arrival in Egypt in 1633. His
destination was the monastery of Saint Makarios, where
he intended both to learn Arabic and to read in its extensive manuscript collection. He later added Syriac to his
languages and used both tongues to introduce Lutheran
teachings to the Copts and Syrians.
After a period spent in Jerusalem, he received a letter
of introduction from the Coptic Patriarch to the Emperor
of Ethiopia and, in the late 1634 or early 1635, arrived in
Gonder. There he practiced medicine and quickly became
an influential minister, teacher and doctor at the court
of King Fasilides (16321667). He used his influence to
reform the Church, particularly by teaching the clergy
Greek and Hebrew and instructing them in the finer
points of theology. He began to translate the New Testament into Amharic, the common language of the people
(the formal, liturgical language was Geez). The extent of
his translation work is not certain, but when Gorgorios
visted Gonder in 1647, the Gospel of John was not only
available in Amharic, but in great demand.
Accounts of Heylings last years leave uncertain
30
David P. Daniel, Lutheranism in the Kingdom of Hungary, in

Robert Kolb, ed. Lutheran Ecclesiastical Culture 15501675 (Leiden:
Brill, 2008), 455507.
This section is summarized from Gustav Arn, Evangelical Pioneers
in Ethiopia: Origins of the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Studia
missionalia Upsaliensia, 32 (Stockholm: EFSfrl, 1978), 2022.
31
21
whether he was expelled from Gonder or departed with

the blessings of the Emperor. What is clear, however, is
that while passing through Suakin after having left Ethiopia, the Turkish pasha confronted Heyling and demanded
that he deny Christ and convert to Islam. Heyling refused
and the pasha beheaded him.
Arns assessment of Heyling is quite striking.
Heylings influence must have been considerable.
His teaching is said to have been a leaven which
compelled the Ethiopian Church to issue a doctrinal
statement in Amamrinya (Amharic) to vindicate
her own position in face of Lutheran views . Felix
Rosen a German botanist who visited Gonder in
1905, observed that Heyling was venerated almost
like a saint . There is apparently a direct line
from Peter Heyling to the founders of the Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus.32
the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ

everlasting life.
This, my friends, is most certainly true.33
The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast is president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Conclusion
Its a miracle that there is a Lutheran Church today. I
mean that both facetiously and seriously. Facetiously, in
that, if one were to take the remarks of some of the more
radical critics of Luther and Lutheranism as cited above,
there should not be a Lutheran Church at all and we
would all be thankful for that given the horrible missiology to which they supposedly held.
However, I mean it seriously, because there is a rich
missiology that has moved the Reformation into other
lands and expressed its confession in other tongues. For
it is only through the proclamation of the Gospel that
God miraculously works faith when and where it pleases
Him. Indeed, I believe that I cannot by my own reason
or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come
to Him, as Luther says in his explanation to the Third
Article of the Creed in the Small Catechism. But, as he
continues, the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel,
enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in
the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and
sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps
it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and
all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all
32
http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php#creed, accessed April 15,

2015.
33
Arn, Evangelical Pioneers, 21.
22
On May 3, 2015, LCMS President

Matthew C. Harrison preached
The Message of the

Reformation
for the dedication of the Old

Latin School at St. Marys Church
in Wittenberg, Germany.
by Matthew C. Harrison
In Jesu Namen! Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren! Oder als wir Amerikanern sagen, Meine lieben Freunde, und ganz
besonders die grozgigen Freunde hier im Stadt und Pfarrkirche St. Marien, unsere Freunde von der Evangelischen
Kirche in Mitteldeutschland, und von der Selbstndigen Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland: Wir mchten sie herzliche begren und danken Ihnen, da Sie mit uns diese Einweihung und diesen Gottesdienst feiern. Im Namen der 2.2
Millionen Glieder der Missouri-Synode und vieler anderer weltweit mchten wir unserem Dank dem scheidenden Oberbrgermeister Naumann und dem neugewhlten Oberbrgermeister Torsten Zugehr aussprechen, Dank fr die Frsorge
und Pflege dieses Schatzes, der Lutherstadt Wittenberg und ihrer Reformationssttten. Dafr danken wir Gott.
Verzeihen Sie mir mein schwaches Deutsch. Leider mu ich auf Englisch predigen, damit sowohl Sie als auch ich
meine Predigt verstehen knnen!
n the name of Jesus. Our

Savior said, I thank you
Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you have hidden this
from these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed
them to little children. Our theme
is the theme of this dedication
event, and of the conference, which
follows. Remember, repent, rejoice.
Indeed, as confessional Lutherans
celebrated the great anniversaries of
the Reformation, this theme was a
recurring one. And for good cause.
Habakkuk 3 states: O Lord, I have
heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I
fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the
years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
Luther preached his last sermon in Wittenberg, from
the original pulpit just over there. It was Jan. 17, 1546. In
contrast to all the clever heresies, he urged people to have
a simple, childlike faith in Christ.
Melancthon prayed as Luther left town with his three
sons. It would be his third trip to attempt reconciliation
in his hometown, Eisleben. The dukes of Mansfeld were
at each others throats over property and other issues.
The copper miners were at odds with the dukes about the
confiscation of their property and mining rights, and to
top it off, there was great conflict about who had the right
to call preachers. It was a porcupine with more quills
than a porcupine, Luther complained.

At Halle they could not cross the
ice-swollen Salle River. Luther joked
that the river Sally was an enormous
Anabaptist lady who wanted to
re-baptize him! On the 28th, Jonas
joined him as they made it across
the river to be met by 60 horsemen
from Eisleben. He suffered dizziness
and pain in his chest and arm along
the way. He had described himself as
old, cold, lame and one-eyed the
previous year.
His last letters to Katie are beautiful testimony to his confidence in Christ and love for
his wife. He calls her Madam Sow-meister and Madam
Brew-meister as he encourages her to read the catechism.
At sixty three he considered himself a very old man. For
him, his sense of age came from having seen the devils
ass [rear end] and from being able to testify to his wickedness. The negotiations dragged on for two weeks. He
despised the lawyers and got into a heated fight with one
of them. He was confident in Christ and ready to die. If I
go back to Wittenberg Ill lie down in a coffin and give the
maggots a fat doctor to eat.
Finally there was light. The porcupine was slaughtered, and agreements were signed February 16. He was
too weak to participate on the final sessions on the 17th.
He preached to celebrate the resolution of the conflict.
The first of Luthers

95 Theses, written
right by the font in
this church, states,
When our Lord and
master Jesus Christ
says Repent, He wills
that the entire life of
the Christian be one
of repentance!
23
His text? I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

that you have hidden these things from the wise and
revealed it to babes. The sermon is characteristic Luther
and picks up on the same theme he preached in last in
Wittenberg.
The Lord here praises and extols his heavenly Father
for having hidden these things from the wise and
understanding. That is, he did not make his gospel
known to the wise and understanding, but to infants
and children who cannot speak and preach and are
not knowing and wise. Thus he indicates that he is
opposed to the wise and understanding and dearly
loves those who are not wise and understanding but
are rather like young children.
But to the world it is very foolish and offensive that
God should be opposed to the wise and condemn
them For they are always exerting themselves;
they do things in the Christian church the way they
want to themselves. Everything that God does they
must improve, so that there is no poorer, more insignificant and despised disciple on earth than God; he
must be everybodys student, everybody wants to be
GODs teacher and preceptor. This
may be seen in all heretics from
the beginning of the world ;they
are not satisfied with what God has
done and instituted .
They think they have to do
something too, in order that they
may be a bit better than other
people and be able to boast: This is what I have done;
what God has done is too poor and insignificant,
even childish and foolish; I must add something to
it. This is the nature of the shameful wisdom of the
world, especially in the Christian church, where one
bishop and one pastor hacks and snaps at another
and one obstructs and shoves the other, as we have
seen at all times in the government of the church
to its great detriment. These are the real wiseacres,
of whom Christ is speaking here, who put the cart
before the horse and will not stay on the road which
God himself has shown us, but always have to have
and do something special in order that the people
may say: Ah, our pastor or preacher is nothing;
theres the real man, hell get things done!
Things are in a fine state, indeed, when the egg
wants to be wiser than the hen.
Lo, this means that the wise of this world are
rejected, that we may learn not to think ourselves

wise and to put away from our eyes all great
personages, indeed, to shut our eyes altogether, and
cling only to Christs Word and come to him, as he so
lovingly invites us to do, and say: Thou alone art my
beloved Lord and Master, I am thy disciple.
This and much more might be said concerning this
Gospel, but I am too weak and we shall let it go at
that.1
At this Luther was overcome with pain and came
down from the pulpit. He was taken to a home across the
street. On the night of the 17th after supper, he went to
the window about 8:00 p.m. to pray, as was his custom.
Soon he suffered deep pains in the chest. At 1:00 a.m.
he woke with another attack of pain. He was certain of
eternal life and repeated John 3:16, For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal
life. Jonas asked him if he was ready to die trusting in the
Lord Jesus. He said, Yes. He said, Lord, let your servant
depart in peace. Amen. He died on Feb. 18 at 2:45 a.m.
After he died, Aurifaber found a scrap of paper in
Luthers pocket. It was the last thing
he ever wrote. Let no one think he
has sufficiently grasped the Scriptures, unless he has governed the
church for a hundred years with the
prophets. We are beggers: This
is true. Wir sind bettler: Hoc est
verum.
Sasse called this Luthers Vermaechniss on Christenheit,
Luthers great legacy to Christianity. Under the law, we are
beggars. We only receive.
First Commandment: You have idols; you are discontent. Second Commandment: You misuse the name of
God. Third Commandment: Your worship and prayers
falter. Fourth Commandment: You despise authority.
Fifth Commandment: You hate your neighbor. Sixth
Commandment: Your sexual thoughts words and deeds
are a stench. Seventh Commandment: You steal, and you
are miser and lack generosity. Eighth Commandment:
You say what ought not be said. Ninth Commandment:
You want what is not yours. Tenth Commandment: You
desire everything but God.
The first of Luthers 95 Theses, written right by the
The message of the

Reformation was
above all a message
of repentance.
24
LW 51, Martin Luther, The Last Sermon, Preached in Eisleben,

Matthew 11:25-30, 15 February 1546. AE 51, 383-392.
font in this church, states, When our Lord and master

Jesus Christ says Repent, He wills that the entire life of
the Christian be one of repentance! The message of the
Reformation was above all a message of repentance.
Are you repentant? Are you a sinner? Then rejoice. I
have good news in a simple message.
Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world for
you. Jesus was foretold by the prophets for you. Jesus was
conceived in the womb of Mary for you. Jesus was born
for you. Jesus was circumcised for you. Jesus taught the
scholars in the temple for you. Jesus was obedient to His
parents for you. Jesus was baptized
in the river Jordan for you. Jesus
was cast into the wilderness for you.
Jesus came preaching, Repent for
the kingdom of God is at hand for
you. Jesus healed the blind, the lame,
the demon possessed, for you. Jesus
fed the thousands for you! Jesus said,
Come to me all you who are weary
and I will give you rest for you. Jesus
raised Lazarus for you. Jesus rode
into Jerusalem for you. Jesus instituted His supper on the
night when He was betrayed for you. Jesus was betrayed
for you. Jesus was tried for you. Jesus was shuffled back
and forth between Pilate and Herod for you. Jesus was
beaten and mocked, wore a crown of thorns and purple
robe for you. Jesus carried His cross to Golgatha for you.
Jesus was nailed to the cross for you.
Jesus said, Forgive them, Lord, they know not what
they do for you. Jesus said, It is finished for you. Jesus
body lay in a tomb for you. Jesus rose on the third day,
bodily, for you. Jesus proclaimed victory in hell for you.
Jesus appeared to Peter and all the rest for you. Jesus
ascended into heaven for you. And Jesus will come again
at the last day for you.
This is the simple Christian faith.
Jesus rejoiced (exhomogoumai soi)
that this has been revealed to the
little children and hidden from the
wise. And we rejoice this day to be
little children with the simple faith of
Luther and Jesus. Remember, repent,
rejoice. This shall be our message
in everything we do in this city and
around the world.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Remember, repent,
rejoice. This shall
be our message in
everything we do in
this city and around
the world.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison is president of The

Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod.
25
Is there any reason to celebrate the
Reformation Jubilees:
Reformation in 2017?
Is There Cause for

Celebration in 2017?
by Werner Kln
hat should we celebrate in 2017? Should

we celebrate at all? Would it not be more
appropriate to observe a Reformation
commemoration? That would at least be an indication
of the fact that the ongoing division within Western
Christianity is no cause for jubilation. But the question
that generally arises is whether the objectives laid out
by Wolfgang Huber in 2008 for the Luther Decade1 go
far and deep enough, or rather whether the more deeply
rooted and ultimately biblical-theological motifs can
actually be received into Church and society. The former
President of the Evangelical Church in Germany names
the Lutheran- themes as being those of hopelessnesses
of life, afflictions of faith, Gods hiddenness and the
theology of the cross. He points out that, according
to Martin Luther, man is in and of himself unfree, a
prisoner of sin and that freedom should, above all,
be understood to be a departure from the inversion of
human existence, as salvation from the disorientations
of life, as deliverance from the shackles of sin and death.
According to Huber, the basis of this freedom lies in that
God bestows on every human the ability to walk upright
so that, consequentially, every human is able to bow his
knees. The soteriological focal point of biblical Lutheran
theology reflects this aspect with its assertion that it
is only God who, through the belief in Christ, awards
freedom and dignity to every human, consequently
deducing an unmediated equality of all humankind
before God that is experienced on an individual basis.
This Church concept is reduced to the metaphor of a
Christian fellowship, a fellowship of equals that also
provides socio-political impetus.
This conglomeration of ideas gives the Luther Decade
project the additional appearance of a political project
that requires Luther to serve as a prompting source of
Wolfgang Huber: Festrede zur Erffnung der Lutherdekade in der
Schlosskirche zu Wittenberg, 21.09.2008.
1
26
inspiration to pose the question of meaning, to reclaim

an educational-historical relevance,2 which admittedly
points to Melanchton rather than Luther,3 as well as
an impact on scientific history, which does not remain
undisputed,4 or indeed a cultural-historical relevance and
to proclaim an ethicizing Christianity; such a disposition
2
Nevertheless, and at least since World War II, it has been said about
both German states, albeit amidst different parameters, differing
conceptions and diverging consequences on both sides, that the
education sector has reached a point of an almost complete loss of a
historically meaningful structure, with confessionality being taken
as such; cf. HeinzElmar Tenorth: Konfessionalitt in Bildungspolitik,
Bildungssystem und pdagogischer Reflexion in beiden deutschen Staaten
nach 1945. Oder: Der Bedeutungsverlust einer historisch bedeutsamen
Struktur, in: Reformationsgeschichtliche Soziett der MartinLuther
Universitt HalleWittenberg (Ed.): Spurenlese. Wirkungen der
Reformation auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule,
(= LStRLO 22), Leipzig 2014, 241245. Nevertheless, a cautious, yet
in cases of uncertainty nonetheless constantly vigilant, democracy
oriented mindfulness can for instance be discerned regarding the
debates of religious education in the Federal Republic of Germany; it
would, however, require further evidence for the derivation to be made
that the Evangelical Church can be described as being an institutional,
impetusinitialising factor for German democracy, cf. Thomas Schlag:
Protestantische Bildungsprogramme in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
zwischen 1949 und 1990, ibid., 255279, here 278. As far as the
former GDR is concerned, particular mention should be made of the
singularity of Evangelical adult education in the sense of a church as
learning community with its specific approaches, cf. Aribert Rothe:
Herausforderungen: protestantische Bildung und Atheismus seit 1945.
Protestantische Erwachsenenbildung in der DDR, ibid., 281294.
Cf. Die Reformation als Bildungskatastrophe. Luthers Pdagogik
zwischen Mangel und Utopie, in: Spurenlese. Wirkungen der Reformation
auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule (FN 2),
6989; Konrad Fees: Protestantische Wertekonzepte in Bildung und
Wissenschaft, ibid., 307329. Friedrich Schweizer draws attention to
the tensions between the implications of a Protestant educational
heritage for the present, amid a difficult mix of a religious and
ideological pluralism to which Reformation thinking was not
attuned in Protestantisches Bildungserbe? Fragen evangelischer
Bildungsverantwortung heute, in: Spurenlese. Wirkungen der Reformation
auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule (FN 2), 331347.
3
Cf. the aggravated stance taken towards Protestant monopoly claims

on modernism: The thesis of a protestant principle having founded
modern science and education faces the same dilemma as Max Webers
thesis on Calvinism or rather a specific Calvinistic school of thought
having founded Capitalism. It can, in certain respects, lay claim to a
historically selective plausibility, but is, on the whole, certainly not
convincing. Weber, Protestantismus, Universitt und Wissenschaft (see
Comment XX), 38.
could in a derivative way be called Modern Culture past centuries were highly politicised.11 And it is indeed
Protestantism.5 It is also questionable whether the rather necessary to point out that the Reformation is not merely
sweeping claim of the Reformation
an event of Protestant Church hisfor enlightenment and democracy,
tory and German history in general,
Enlightenment
individuality and human dignity,
but rather a process of Christianity,
6
turned
its
intrinsically
religious plurality and tolerance
therefore elevating it to an event of
theological motifs into
can be brought in line with historiworld-historical significance.12 From
cal reality.7 This gives rise to justified
a Roman Catholic point of view,
those of anthropology
criticism as far as the implications of
and even with greater ecumenical
and psychology,
this observance regarding tourism
open-mindedness and approaches
thus executing a
policy are concerned.8
to the person of Martin Luther,
secularisation
of
the
It is, however, not surprising
the fact of the schism within the
image of Luther,
that during the run-up to the comWestern Church remains, posing
memoration of the Reformation
an ecumenical challenge.13 Neverduring which central
that has been scheduled for 2017,
theless, in the context of more recent
theological concepts
in spite of the problematic nature of
Roman Catholic Luther and Reforof but not only
the historical facts, their historiomation research, it seems possible to
Luther
are
being
lost.
graphic classification as well as their
locate Luthers reform objective in
interpretation;9 this date is bound
the historically more encompassing
10
up with greatly diverging expectations. In any event, domain of Lutheran confessionalisation, opening up the
and in view of the Luther celebrations through the cen- possibility of revisiting Martin Luther and the Reformaturies, the undeniable conclusion can, on the whole, be tion in a new, Catholic way,14 and even of an ecumenical
reached that: All previous Luther jubilees during the reception of Luther.15
In my opinion the very strong reactions that the
document of the Evangelical Church in Germany on Jus5 Cf. the deliberations by Volkhard Krech: Wie lebt ein Kulturprotestant?
tification and Freedom16 has elicited from some Roman
Beobachtungen zu Habitusformationen eines protestantischen Milieus,
Catholic quarters suggest that, as far as the question as
in: Reformationsgeschichtliche Soziett der MartinLutherUniversitt
HalleWittenberg (Ed.): Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der
to what should be commemorated or even celebrated is
Reformation (= LStRLO 20), Leipzig 2013, 121132, according to
concerned, it is apparent that there remain a number of
which such a milieu is characterised by a coexistence of secularists
and religious elements, ambivalence, keeping a sympathising
larger ecumenical stumbling blocks that still need to be
distance towards the institutional Church, an affirmation of social
processed, if not removed altogether. The statement alone
differentiation and structural individualism as well as an orientation
towards Kunstreligion (Artasreligion).
that this jubilee is, for the first time, being jointly pre6 President Nikolaus Schneider. Am Anfang war das Wort.
pared by all Protestant Churches in Germany is a rather
Dachmarkenkampagne Luther 2017 heute in Berlin vorgestellt;
bold one, but can be explained by a conception of Evan27 October 2011; http://www.ekd.de/presse/pm247_2011_
dachmarkenkampagne.html (accessed 24. 03. 2014)
gelical Church, based on the Leuenberg Agreement,
7 Hartmut Lehmann: Fragen zur Halbzeit der Lutherdekade, KZG/CHH
which holds out Church unity as a possibility.17 It is there26 (2013), 447454, here 451; cf. also Lehmanns extremely critical,
partly justified inquiries concerning the history of Lutheranism since
1517, as well as his conclusion: 500 years of Lutheranism is certainly
not an outright success story that one could point to in 2017 with a
sense of pride. Ibid., 452. Instead, Lehmann would rather refer to a
success story of Protestantism and, in this context, poses the question
as to whether the latter can still be brought into close association with
Luther at all. Ibid., 453. The critical questions Lehmann directs at
Lutheranism can, with equal if not greater justification, be directed at
Protestantism.
Gerhard Besier: Human Images, Myth Creation and Projections:
From the Luther Myth to the Luther Campaign, KZG/CCH 26 (/2013),
422436.
8
Hartmut Lehmann. Fragen zur Halbzeit der Lutherdekade (FN 7), 453.
Hartmut Lehmann. Unterschiedliche Erwartungen an das

Reformationsjubilum 2017 in idem: Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (=
Refo 500, vol. 8), Gttingen 2012, 305314.
10
Lehmann, Die Deutschen und ihr Luther, in: idem: Luthergedchtnis

18172017 (FN 10), 299.
11
Hartmut Lehmann: Rckblick und Ausblick, in: idem:

Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 916; idem: Die Deutschen und
ihr Luther (FN ), 303; idem, Unterschiedliche Erwartungen, ibid., 311f.
12
Wolfgang Thnissen: Katholische Perspektiven zum Thema

Reformationsjubilum, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 437f.
13
14
Ibid. (FN 13), 442.
15
Ibid. (FN 13), 441.
Rechtfertigung und Freiheit. 500 Jahre Reformation 2017. Ein

Grundlagentext des Rates der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland
(EKD), Gtersloh 2014.
16
17
Ibid., preface, 8.
27
fore not surprising that the jubilee of 1817 is interpreted cation described this Protestant programme as not
as being the date of a rapprochement of the two great being compatible with the ecumenical programme.28
confessional wings of the Reformation.18 These days, Thomas Sding, a Roman Catholic New Testament
references are made under the heading of a legitimate scholar in Bochum, has, from his critique that the fundapluralisation due to its Scriptural conformity19 in order mental text also fell short of offering a base for a serious
to counter the term schism.20
discussion with Catholic theology, concluded that an
Many aspects of the attempts of this fundamental ecumenism of profiles, as called for in 2005 by Wolftext to revisit the central theme of the Reformation gang Huber, the former president of the Council of the
for modern contemporaries can be described as being Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), should rather be
successful; for instance, the emphasis on the exclusive replaced with the model of an ecumenism of strengths.29
particles (solus Christus, solo verbo, sola scriptura, sola The Erfurt Luther Symposium, hosted by the Johan-Adgratia, sola fide) and the interpretation of these with the am-Mhler Institute and the Faculty of Catholic Theology
aid of the keywords love, recognition and appreciation, at the University of Erfurt, paid tribute to Martin Luther
forgiveness and freedom.21 It has
as being a Reform Catholic.30 It
to be stated nonetheless, that the
seems to me that here, too, lie the
Humanity
and
ideal,
repression of the motif of sacrifice
beginnings for a Reformation comnation and people are
in the description of Christs work
memoration with Concord-Lutheran
22
is cause for concern. The concept
ecumenical intent.
the guiding interests
of freedom, even given the differOriginally a denotation imposed
that supersede theology
ences in perception of this concept
by others, the term Lutheran
and church.
between Reformation and modern
becomes one of self-designation, also
23
times, is still understood to be freein the sense of an inter-Christian
dom toward the other and is consequently used in an differentiation. But what is the greatness of Lutheranequivocal sense.24 Accordingly, and despite protestations ism? During the confessionalisation processes of the
to the contrary, Luthers appearance in Worms is being sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,31 an emergence of
invoked for the fundamental value of universal freedom varying church-institutional forms can already be disof conscience so that Luthers fundamental belief cor- cerned, despite the homogenisation tendencies effected
responds to the modern framework of the constitution of by the Formula of Concord,32 if one only looks at the Holy
the democratic state.25 Then it may also be expected that Roman Empire of the German Nation in various territothe jubilee should become a celebration of society as rial church developments.33 Standing outside of this are
a whole, and of the secular state.26 Furthermore, defining national churches in Scandinavia, for instance, but also
the relationship between congregation\church and eccle- groups and minorities of Lutheran orientation that are
siastical ministry appears to be particularly questionable
to me, seeing that the latter should apparently only exist
28 kumenische Information 28, 8. July 2014, 3.
for the sake of order.27
29 Thomas Sding: 500 Jahre Reformationder Versuch einer
Wolfgang Thnissen, the executive director of the Rechtfertigung, in: Christ in der Gegenwart 31/ 3. August 2014,353f.
Johann-Adam-Mhler Institute in Paderborn, has 30 kumenische Information 37, 9. September 2014, 3.
albeit with unusual vehemence but with some justifi- 31 Cf. Heinz Schilling: (Ed.): Die reformierte Konfessionalisierung in
21
Ibid., 29, cf. the implementation, 4493, also 98.
22
Ibid., 37; 62.
Deutschland Das Problem der Zweiten Reformation (= SVRG

195), Gtersloh 1986; HansChristoph Rublack (Ed.): Die lutherische
Konfessionalisierung in Deutschland. Wissenschaftliches Symposion des
Vereins fr Reformationsgeschichte (= SVRG 197), Gtersloh 1992;
where the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, cf. Heinz Schilling
(Ed.) Katholische Konfessionalisierung. Wissenschaftliches Symposion der
Gesellschaft zur Herausgabe des Corpus Catholicorum und des Vereins
fr Reformationsgeschichte, (= SVRG 198), Gtersloh/Mnster 1995.
23
Ibid., 13, 33.
32
24
Ibid., 65
25
Ibid., 102.
26
Ibid., 105.
27
Ibid., 91.
18
Ibid., 17.
19
Ibid., 99.
Ibid., 21f.
28
Cf. Robert Kolb: Die Konkordienformel. Eine Einfhrung in ihre

Geschichte und Theologie (= OUH.E 8), Gttingen 2011
Martin Heckel: Deutschland im konfessionellen Zeitalter (Deutsche
Geschichte 5), Gttingen 1983; Ernst Koch: Das konfessionelle Zeitalter
Katholizismus, Luthertum, Calvinismus (15631675) (= KGE II/8),
Leipzig 2000.
33
under pressure.
to be modified at the very least, since the doctrine of
The notion that Protestantism has brought forth the three estates (Drei-Stnde-Lehre) of Lutheranism
the formation of the modern-day scientific approach or led to the restriction of authority, and the resistance
has affected it in a particular way has come under fire of debate in the Reich did not break off 40 after the Peace
late as being a Protestant-Lutheran master narrative.34 of Augsburg. It has been proven for quite some time that
It should anyway be borne in mind that the term Prot- particular subservience to authority does not apply to the
estantism carries with it the risk of a hasty unification Lutheran court chaplains, at least not to those of the first
where differences as to theology, confession, denomina- few generations.41 It must be emphasised in this regard
tion or types of devotion are concerned.35 By contrast, that the more recent right to resist was invented and
claims as to the impact on scientific history in the sphere first propagated by Lutheranism in the middle of the 16th
of influence of Calvin and Calcentury so that Lutheranism
vinism continue to be made,
cannot simply be defamed as
In 1934 and 1936 Hermann
36
not least for the early period
being a doctrine of subservi37
Sasse
cautioned
against
three
of the Netherlands.
The
ent subordination.42
Protestant Reformation has
The question as to whether
misconstructions of the Lutheran
been used in order to serve at
more valuable insights can be
Reformation: Lutheranism itself
least as a general framework
gained with the concept of a
does not respond (sc. to the
for the development of natuLutheran Confession Culquestion: What is Lutheran?). It is ture might be raised;43 the
ral philosophy, medicine and
unable to give an answer to those
astronomy.38
concept does at least achieve
Amongst the ingrained
the identification of conwho inquire after its essence; it is
interpretive paradigms of
fession as [being] Lutheran
a mute concept. It is a different
European history is also the
practise, thereby representing
matter, however, if we inquire
assertion that Calvinism is
an open process. However, the
after the Lutheran Church. The
said to have effected the prodetermination of a Lutheran
Evangelical
Lutheran
Church
is
motion of democracy, while
identity does thereby tend to
Lutheranism is said to have
not an idea, it is a reality. It is not remain underexposed. One
strengthened the belief in
can nonetheless discern a
mute, it speaks.
authority.39 This view needs
specific impact of Reformation theology on the fine arts,
34 Wolfgang E. J. Weber: Protestantismus, Universitt und Wissenschaft.
for instance the thematisation around the Lutheran basic
Kritische Bemerkungen zu einer historischen Aneignung, in: Spurenlese.
formula of Law and Gospel.44 It is and remains undisWirkungen der Reformation auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt
puted that the Bible and hymnal, in the way that they
und Schule (FN 2), 1938, here 36.
Hans Joas: Modernisierung als kulturprotestantische Metaerzhlung,
in: Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 485496,
here 490; a section of the cited literature below is most definitely
lacking in this regard; it is for this reason that I regularly put the term in
inverted commas.
35
Jon Balserak: Science in Early Modern Calvinist Countries. Considering one of the Sources for its Flourishing, in: Reformationsgeschichtliche
Soziett der MartinLutherUniversitt HalleWittenberg (Ed.): Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5) 2013, 91103.
36
37
For the Netherlands cf. Willem Frijhoff: A watchful symbiosis.

Protestantisms, scholarship and higher education as (inter)national
assets of the Dutch Republic, in: Spurenlese. Wirkungen der Reformation
auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule (FN 2), 107129.
38
Ole Peter Grell: The Significance of the Reformation for natural

philosophy, medicine, and astronomy, in: Spurenlese. Wirkungen der
Reformation auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule (FN
2), 193208, here 208.
Luise SchornSchtte: Religion und Politik. Grundzge einer
christlichen Herrschaftslehre im 16. Jahrhundert, in: Spurenlese.
Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 1740, here 17.
39
40
Ibid., 39.
Cf. Wolfgang Sommer: Gottesfurcht und Frstenherrschaft. Studien

zum Obrigkeitsverstndnis Johann Arndts und lutherischer Hofprediger
zur Zeit der altprotestantischen Orthodoxie, Gttingen 1988; idem:
Politik, Theologie und Frmmigkeit im Luthertum der Frhen Neuzeit.
Gttingen 1999.
41
Joas, Modernisierung als kulturprotestantische Metaerzhlung, in:

Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 492, with
reference to Wolfgang Reinhard: Historiker, Modernisierung und
Modernisierung. Erfahrungen mit dem Konzept Modernisierung in
der neueren Geschichte in Walter Haug / Burghart Wachinger ((Ed.):
Innovation und Originalitt, Tbingen 1993, 5369; cf. idem: , Freiburg
2004.
42
Thomas Kaufmann, Konfession und Kultur. Lutherischer

Protestantismus in der 2. Hlfte des Reformationsjahrhunderts, Tbingen
2006, 9.
43
Heimo Reinitzer: Gesetz und Evangelium. ber ein reformatorisches

Bildthema, seine Tradition, Funktion und Wirkungsgeschichte, 2 vols,
Hamburg 2006.
44
29
have become determinants for piety and worship during

the Lutheran Reformation, have, during the subsequent
period, defined Christian culture as a whole, and across
all confessional boundaries at that; this is exemplified by
the names of Paul Gerhardt and Johann Sebastian Bach.45
Where constitutional law pertaining to the Church
and State is concerned, the Peace of Westphalia of 1648,
constituting the first large-scale attempt at a European
framework for peace,46 initially safeguarded the unity of
the Reich, characterised by the dissimulation which codified the relative legal validity of multi-confessionality.47
During the further course of European history,48 but especially in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
and its territories, this religious plurality played a determining role in the shaping of diverse and also collective
mentalities and regional identities.49
Luther interpretations up to the twentieth century

an outline
Early historical receptions of Luther in the sixteenth century already reflect historical-theological interpretations,
for instance when Luther is portrayed as being a prophet,
teacher or hero,50 partly in a mythological mold, partly in
a kind of confessional canonisation as witnessed in the
Corpora Doctrinae, and absolutely in competition with
Christoph Wolff: Musik aus dem Geist der Reformation. Bibel und
Gesangbuch in der Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs, in: Spurenlese,
Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 350362, here 350.
45
Klaus Bumann / Heinz Schilling: 1648 Krieg und Frieden in

Europa, Katalogband und zwei Textbnde, [Dokumentation der
Europaratsausstellung zum 350jhrigen Jubilum des Westflischen
Friedens in Mnster und Osnabrck] Mnster /Osnabrck 1998; Fritz
Dickmann: Der Westflische Frieden. Mnster, Mnster 1997.
46
47
Koch, Das konfessionelle Zeitalter (FN 33), 328332.
Phillip Melanchthon.51 Luthers authority is defended

in the Apology of the Formula of Concord (1584) over
objections from Crypto-Philippistic quarters; for their
part, the Calvinists accordingly dispute Martin Luthers
prophetic and apostolic office. Such stylisations result
in a development of tendencies towards a monumentalisation and stereotyping of Martin Luther, which
super-elevate and paralyze the historical Luther.52 Pietism
and Enlightenment are, for the most part, not interested
in Martin Luther as teacher of the Church in terms of a
Lutheranism informed by the Formula of Concord, even
though Philipp Jakob Spener and the first-generation
Lutheran Pietists laid legitimatory claim to Luther.53
For the self-assurance of the Lutheran territories, their
elites and at least in parts their people, and even
before the Thirty Years War as well as after it, significance
was afforded to the Reformation jubilees; they reveal in
each case the church and religious position(s) that were
in need of legitimatory strengthening. The centenary of
the Reformation was interpreted in the light of Heilsgeschichte.54 Luther is assigned a salvific over-dimensional
quality, by virtue of which the Reformer from Wittenberg is said to have rehabilitated Scriptures, brought the
Doctrine of Justification to light again and corrected sacramental theology.55 By way of response to the Roman
Catholic Churchs contestation of Luthers legitimisation,
a virtually direct calling to the position of Reformer
was assigned to him by the opposite side,56 since it was
not least a matter of safeguarding the dogmatic claim
to truth of German Protestantism.57 As the Wittenberg
speeches and sermons of 1617 show, it was about nothing
less than the legitimisation through history, in which
Wittenberg styles itself as being Salem,58 or Strasbourg
48
Not taken into account in this portrayal is the impact of the

Wittenberg Reformation beyond Europes borders, and the development
of Lutheranism in Africa, say, or Asia and Latin America; cf. however
Frieder Ludwig: LutherWahrnehmungen in Afrika, Asien und
Lateinamerika, in: Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation
(see Comment XX), 279307; Ludwig draws attention to the question
as to when and by way of which transmission belts certain Lutheran
images were imparted, and how these were transformed via various
processes of appropriation and interaction, ibid., 282; for North
America cf. Hermann Wellenreuther: Zivilisation, Mission und
Kirchenverstndnis. Europische protestantische und indigene Kirchen in
Nordamerika, in: Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (see
Comment XX), 309330.
Heinz Schilling: Die neue Zeit. Vom Christenheitseuropa zum Europa
der Staaten. 1250 bis 1750 (= Siedler Geschichte Europas, vol. 3) Berlin
1999; idem: Konfessionalisierung und Staatsinteressen. Internationale
Beziehungen 15591660 (= Handbuch der Geschichte der internationalen
Beziehungen, publ. by Heinz Duchhardt and Franz Knipping, vol. 2),
Paderborn 2007.
49
Robert Kolb, Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher and Hero: Images of

the Reformer, 15201620, Grand Rapids, 1999.Paderborn 2007.
50
30
51
Koch, Das konfessionelle Zeitalter (FN 33), 211218.
52
Kolb, Martin Luther (see Comment X), 114f.
Martin Brecht: Philipp Jakob Spener, sein Programm und dessen

Auswirkungen, in: idem (Ed.): Der Pietismus vom siebzehnten bis zum
frhen achtzehnten Jahrhundert (= idem. / Klaus Deppermann / Ulrich
Gbler [Ed.]: Geschichte des Pietismus vol. 1), 281389, here 293, 373;
idem: August Hermann Francke und der Hallesche Pietismus, ibid.,
439539, here 469.
53
HansJrgen Schnstdt: Antichrist, Weltheilsgeschehen und Gottes

Werkzeug. Rmische Kirche, Reformation und Luther im Spiegel des
Reformationsjubilums 1617 (= VIEG, 80), Wiesbaden 1978; slightly
abridged, idem: Das Reformationsjubilum 1617, ZKG 93 (1982), 557.
54
55
Ibid., 4749.
56
Ibid., 55.
57
Ibid., 57.
Annina Ligniez: Legitimation durch Geschichte. Das erste

Reformationsjubilum 1617 in Wittenberg, in: Klaus Tanner (ed.),
Konstruktion von Geschichte. JubelredePredigtprotestantische
58
where contrary to its own Reformation history and

Pietism historicises Luther as well as his doctrine
by way of profiling itself against the newly-founded and and predominantly perceives him as being homo reliimperially privileged Jesuit College in Molsheim expe- gious, who was undoubtedly one of a kind, beyond
dited its solidarity with Saxon Lutheranism.59
whom history admittedly extended and who, in the conOne to one-and-a-half centuries later the histori- sciousness of the development of piety, is recording
cal-theological interpretation of the Reformation was something new and seminal into the annals of histostill very present in its objection of and opposition to the ry.65 By referring to Luthers preface to the Epistle to the
papacy, which was still being portrayed as the apoca- Romans, by emphasising the priesthood of all believers
lyptic world tyrant, as well as partly in a coalition with or by referring to Luthers preface to the German Mass,
Lutheran-Enlightened elements;60 the image of Luther was the Lutheran Pietists were, at least in the beginning,
in accordance with this, where his person was interpreted admittedly striving to maintain continuity with the Witas being the fulfilment of the prophesy in Revelation,61 or tenberg Reformation, especially where the Doctrine
rather as being the sun of religious enlightenment.62 of Justification was concerned; however, the theologiWithin the ranks of the last
cal-existential concern shifted
representatives of Lutheran
towards a regeneration of the
Orthodoxy, the Reformation
Christianity is thereby under justified, or rather than toward
Jubilee of 1717 was utilised to
implementing and safeguarding
an obligation to be critical of
66
once again demonstrate the
contemporaneity. The Church the existential turning point.
63
unity of Lutheranism. HowStudies were now geared toward
and
its
members
can,
after
all,
ever, one also comes across
practical relevance within the
not escape contemporaneity,
laments about a desolate condiframework of a holistic practise
tion of the Evangelical Church,
of piety.67
neither can it be denied that
especially in Electoral Saxony,
Enlightenment turned its
its members are influenced
together with this contradicting
intrinsically theological motifs
and imperceptibly governed
appeal to adhere to the tradiinto those of anthropology and
by
trends
and
tendencies
of
tional Lutheran faith; the latter
psychology,68 thus executing
a world and society that is not
were to no small degree topical,
a secularisation of the image
since the Elector had converted
of Luther, during which cenonly all around them, but
to Catholicism twenty years pretral theological concepts of
in which they live themselves
viously, and the Electoral Prince
and that consequently also has but not only Luther are
had changed his confession very
being lost; humanity and ideal,
an
effect
on
their
being.
64
recently.
nation and people are the guiding interests that supersede
theology and church.69 AccomHistoriograhie (LStRLO 18), Leipzig 2013, 5366.
panying this is a change of the view of Luther toward
59 Silvio Reichelt: Die Akademische Reformationsjubelfeier in Straburg
1617, in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 6787, here 87.
HansJrgen Schnstdt: Das Reformationsjubilum 1717, ZKG

93 (1982), 58118, here 108; cf. concerning the antiRoman Catholic
positionings in 1755 cf. Stefan W. Rmmelt: Kalter Konfessions
Krieg auf Kanzel und Katheder? Die 200Jahrfeiern des Augsburger
Religionsfriedens von 1755 an den Universitten Wittenberg, Leipzig und
Halle , in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 141177.
60
61
Schnstdt, 1717 (FN 60), 114.
62
Rmmelt, Kalter KonfessionsKrieg? (FN 60), 174.
Harm Cordes: Cyprian als Chronist des Reformationsjubilums von

1717, in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 89103.
63
Annina Ligniez: [] BEY IETZIGEN GEFHRLICHEN

UND BETRBTEN ZEITEN []. Zeitdiagnosen in
Reformationsjubilumspredigten 1717 in Wittenberg, in: Klaus Tanner
/ Jrg Ulrich (Ed.): Spurenlese. Reformationsvergegenwrtigung als
Standortbestimmung (17171983), (= LStRLO 17), Leipzig 2012, 3770,
here 42f.
64
Claudia Drese: Zur Geschichtsschreibung im kirchlichen Pietismus, in:

Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 105116, here 114f.
65
66
Brecht, Spener (see Comment XX), 374378; id., Francke (see

Comment XX), 463.
Wischmeyer, Leitbilder des protestantischen Theologiestudiums (see
Comment XX), 5058, here 50.
67
Hartmut Lehmann: Die Deutschen und ihr Luther. Im Jahr2017 jhrt

sich zum fnfhundertsten Mal der Beginn der Reformation. Jubiliert
wurde schon oft, in: id.: Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 297304,
here 297f.
68
Dieter Hensing: Der Bilder eigner Geist. Das schwierige Verhltnis

der Lutherbilder zu ihrem Gegenstand, in: Ferdinand van Ingen / Gerd
Labroisse (Ed.): LutherBilder im 20. Jahrhundert, (= Amsterdamer
Beitrge zur neueren Germanistik, vol. 19), Amsterdam 1984, 125, here
24.
69
31
the interdenominational. A paradigm shift occurred

in the writing of Church history that now had a science specific association with the past, inasmuch as the
Protestant theologians were compelled, to some extent,
to develop new legitimisation interpretations for the Reformation which had to prevail before the judgement seat
of reason.70 Enlightenment is, according to the teleology of progress, consequently the driving force behind
an improvement of religion and science that extends
beyond the Reformation.71 This was consistent with an
increased emphasis on practical relevance in progressive
concepts of theological studies, albeit as opposed to
Pietism sustained by a solid, intellectual education.72
These concepts comprise a stronger individualisation,
subjectivisation and above all hermeneutical humility in
the sense of religious tolerance, while simultaneously
exceeding former confessional self-limitation. A separation of Christian and secular educationnal contexts
subsequently tends to occur.73
In North America, during the eighteenth century, the
Lutherans were mostly in the minority but were facing
greater difficulties where the (re-)organisation of the
church was concerned, not least because of the new geographical, societal, governmental and religion-political
contexts. On the one hand, the North American pathos
of liberty and a new beginning served them as a guiding
principle for a new contextualisation; its legitimacy was
however underpinned by its close historical ties to Luther
and the Reformation.74 For the Lutherans of predominantly German origin the Reformation jubilee of 1817,
a minority phenomenon in the United States,75 acted as
an orientation within the new context, but with varying

outcomes. It became either an expression of the ability to
connect with other Protestants, or emphasis was placed
on Lutheranism as an autonomous denomination in a
Protestant environment while simultaneously stressing linguistic and religious autonomy.76 The latter still
applied in the middle of the nineteenth century to the
Saxon emigrants who subsequently formed the Missouri
Synod.77
In the nineteenth century,78 and originating from
Herder, the German Luther79 increasingly turns into
an icon of not only national but nationalistic self-assurance, the incense of which is burnt as offering to this idol
in 1817, 1883, 1917 and 1933. Thus Leopold von Ranke
portrays Luther as an organ of a higher office and executor of a transpersonal mandate;80 he becomes the
embodiment of national mission and national spirit.81
This ideologisation of the image of Luther82 is consolidated by linking it to the commemoration of the Battle
of Nations and the posting of the theses (1817) and, with
Luthers 400th birthday in 1883, by interpreting the Reformation as being the pivotal factor in setting the course
for the founding of the German Empire in 1871,
according to Heinrich von Treitschke, who extols
Luther as being the leader of the nation.83 Some of the
Reformation sermons held at the 300-year anniversary celebrations at the beginning of the nineteenth
century already bear the signature of at least posited
liberty, progress and tolerance, but also free will,
civic virtue and immortality, so that this kind of
Protestant theology regresses, especially theologically,
Dirk Fleischer: Protestantische Kirchengeschichtsschreibung in der

Aufklrung in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 117139,
here 125f.
1817, in: Tanner / Ulrich, Spurenlese. Reformationsvergegenwrtigung als

Standortbestimmung (FN 64), 7199, here 71.
70
Fleischer Protestantische Kirchengeschichtsschreibung (see Comment

XX), 137f.
71
Johannes Wischmeyer: Leitbilder des protestantischen

Theologiestudiums. Programmatische Diskussion und institutioneller
Wandel vom 16. Bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, in: Spurenlese. Wirkungen der
Reformation auf Wissenschaft und Bildung, Universitt und Schule (FN
2), 5963, here 59.
72
Markus Wriedt: Erleuchtete Pietasfromme Erudition. Zum Wandel

des theologischen Bildungsverstndnisses im Zeitalter der Aufklrung, in:
Spurenlese. Wirkungen der Reformation auf Wissenschaft und Bildung,
Universitt und Schule (FN 2), 159191, here 167, 189.
73
Wolfgang Flgel: Das Beste aus zwei Welten. Geschichtskonstrukte

lutherischer Pastoren im Pennsylvania des 18. Jahrhunderts, in: Tanner,
Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 179211; similar sentiments were
still held in the nineteenth century by the Saxon emigrants, who went
on to form the Missouri Synod;
74
Wolfgang Flgel: Deutsche Lutheraner? Amerikanische Protestanten?

Die Selbstdarstellung deutscher Einwanderer im Reformationsjubilum
75
32
Wolfgang Flgel, Deutsche Lutheraner? Amerikanische Protestanten?

Die Selbstdarstellung deutscher Einwanderer im Refomrationsjubilum
1817, in: Spurenlese. Vergegenwrtigung als Standortbestimmung (FN
64), 99.
76
77
Cf. the historicising and assuring title of a portrayal dating from

the middle of the twentieth century, Walter O. Forster: Zion on
the Mississippi: The Settlement of the Saxon Lutherans in Missouri
18391841, St. Louis 1953, but also the instructive study by Christoph
Barnbrock: Die Predigten C. F. W. Walthers im Kontext deutscher
Auswanderergemeinden in den USA. HintergrndeAnalysen
Perspektiven, Hamburg 2003.
Dorothea Wendebourg: Die Reformationsjubilen des 19.
Jahrhunderts, ZThK 108 (2011), 270335.
78
79
Hensing, Lutherbilder (FN 69), 79.
80
Ibid.
81
Ibid.
82
Hensing, Der Bilder eigner Geist (FN 69), 8.
83
Ibid., 9.
to pre-Reformation positions.84 On the Roman Catholic all Evangelical Churches were compelled to hold Luther
side, by contrast, the Reformation was, despite certain celebrations; however, the jubilee, with its attempt at eleecumenical attunements, on the whole, due to its divi- vating Luther to the great integration and identification
sive nature, not perceived as being beneficial.85 It is figure of all Germans [remained] full of uncertainties
noteworthy that in Frankfurt/Main, for instance, there and ambiguities.90 As far as Heinrich von Treitschke was
is a predominance of patriotic and domestic virtues in concerned, Luther constituted the eternal German.91
prayers.86 A new Protestant self-awareness also began In 1883 in North America, on the other hand, Luther
arising within this context. The third secular celebration of was, transdenominationally speaking, rather considthe Reformation already has national overtones, not least ered to be a trailblazer for the modern age, a viewpoint
due to a suggestion by Goethe to observe this commemo- that should change radically before 1917.92 Towards the
ration as a feast of all Germans; even so, and probably as end of the nineteenth century and within a saturated
far as the state was concerned, confession-political facil- nation,93 Luther serves as the classical representation
itation was still advised in 1817.87
of the German spirit and German
Moreover, a pluralistic reference to
morality, where his religiosity is
and utilisation of Luther, dependviewed as being a genuine expresEven in the rejection
ing on the theological position, can
sion of just such Germanness, which
of contemporary
now be discerned.88 The secular celis, as such, absolutely in competition
developments
where
the
ebration of the Confessio Augustana
with Catholicism and celebrated
Church or its individual by a more Protestant bourgeoiin 1830 effected the already existing
respective theological orientations
members, based on their sie, despite the inherent tensions
the post-Kantian rationalism but
in this milieu.94 The Luther Jubilee
Christian responsibility,
also the revivalist movement and
of 1917 took place amid the seemare of the opinion that
Neo-Lutheranism to experience
ingly unending and undecided First
they
ought
to
be
met
a culminating intensification, but
World War.95 These celebrations
with disapproval, such
always with legitimising back referwere marked by an emphasis on
ence be it that they viewed Luther
nationality and by championing an
positioning proves itself
as being the archetype of Enlightethos orientated towards a German
to be contemporary
enment or that they regarded the
Luther, imbued with heroism.96
in nature.
theology of the Augsburg Confession
Being almost naturally different,
as legitimisation for the experience
of sin and grace of the revival movement, or that they
90 Hartmut Lehmann: Das Lutherjubilum 1883, in: id.:
utilised him in his confessional identity-giving role for Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 5977, here 76.
Neo-Lutheranism.89 In 1883 and by imperial decree, 91 Cf. Hartmut Lehmann: Er ist wir selber: der ewige Deutsche.
Wichmann von Meding: Jubel ohne Glauben? Das
Reformationsjubilum 1817 in Wrttemberg, in ZKG 93 (1982),
119160, here 144f.
84
Hans Wolter: Das Reformationsjubilum von 1817 in der Freien Stadt

Frankfurt am Main, in: ZKG 93 (1982), 161176, here 173.
85
86
Ibid., 171.
Hartmut Lehmann: Martin Luther und der 31. Oktober 1517, in id.:
Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10),1734, here 23.
87
88
Ibid., 24; on Karl von Hase and the historical image of a

Reformation open to modernism cf. Johannes Wischmeyer:
Reformation als Epoche und Strukturmoment. Protestantismustheorie
und Historismus bei Karl von Hase und der Jenaer freisinnigen Theologie,
in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN 58), 277306, here 304.
Johannes Hund: Das AugustanaJubilum von 1830 als
Kulminationspunkt der Ausbildung moderner theologischer Positionen
whrend der Vormrzzeit, in: Tanner, Konstruktion von Geschichte (FN
58), 105116, 237253, here 252f.
89
Zur langanhaltenden Wirkung der Lutherdeutung von Henrich von

Treitschke, in id. Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 126137.
Hartmut Lehmann: Die Lutherjubilen 18883 und 1917 in Amerika,

, in id.: Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10),7893; cf. id. The Luther
Statues in Washington D.C., and Baltimore in id.: Luthergedchtnis
18172017 (FN 10), 94109.
92
Sebastian Kranich: Das Dresdner Lutherjubilum 1883, in:

Tanner / Ulrich, Spurenlese. Reformationsvergegenwrtigung als
Standortbestimmung (FN 64), 101143, here 143.
93
Cf. Werner Kln: Von der Reichsgrndung bis zu den

Reformationsjubilen 1883, in: Helmut Edelmann / Niels Hasselmann
(Ed.): Nation im Widerspruch. Aspekte und Perspektiven aus lutherischer
Sicht heute. Eine Studie des kumenischen Studienausschusses der
VELKD und des DNK/LWB, Gtersloh 1999, 145151; cf. for the
local history of Dresden, the summary in Kranich, Das Dresdner
Lutherjubilum 1883 (see Comment XX), 140f.
94
Gottfried Maron: Luther 1917. Beobachtungen zur Literatur des 400.

Reformationsjubilums, ZKG 93 (1982), 146.
95
for instance Ralph Hennings: Die Reformationsjubilen 1817 und

1917 in Oldenburg (Oldb.), KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 217237.
96 Cf.
33
that is to say not focused on nationalism, the Reformation commemoration of the Reformed Church took place
during the penultimate year of the War.97
Luther Renaissance and Luther jubilees during

the first half of the twentieth century
A new academic reflection on the Reformer from Wittenberg only begins with the Luther Renaissance, justifiably
assessed as being the other departure after the First
World War, alongside the dialectic theology.98 Contrasting as yet with cultural Protestant interpretations99 that,
like Ernst Troeltsch,100 emphasize Martin Luthers championing of the individual, or, like Reinhold Seeberg,
interpret the relationship with God as being personal,
spiritual, divine, accordingly, the Reformation is the
German understanding of Christianity,101 the Luther
Renaissance begins to develop new approaches. According to Karl Holl, religion, as taught by Luther, turns into
conscience religion in the most pronounced sense of the
wordrooted in Gods actions of love and wrath, which are
inaccessible to human reason102 but which are consolidated in the encounter with God.103 Holl significantly
views the experience of Germanys defeat in the First
World War as being a judgement of God.104 According to
Rudolf Herrmann, justification is articulated by faith as
basis for its certainty, which is being expressed as simul
iustus et peccator within the context of self-awareness.
He takes up the Lutheran distinction between Law and
Gospel or rather between person and conduct in such a
way that the believers feelings of inadequacy concerning his or her own conduct under the threat of the Law is
converted into the lamentation that remains focused on
God.105
HansGeorg Ulrichs: Eine Gelegenheit, mit den unbekannten Vtern
der reformierten Kirche bekannt zu machen. Das Reformationsjubilum
1917 in Emden und bei den Reformierten in Deutschland, KZG/CCH 26
(2013), 238261.
97
Heinrich Assel: Der andere Aufbruch. Die Lutherrenaissance,

Gttingen 1994.
The Swedish Luther Renaissance constitutes its own

encompassing awakening, similar to the dialectic theology on the continent, but without being as radical
in its renunciation of problems pertaining to previous
epochs.106 A rejection of a nationalistic Luther interpretation107 can be observed, coupled with a national
church (Volkskirche) model, admittedly with national
connotations. Nathan Sderblom famously gained relevance with his concept of evangelical catholicity to
which he deemed Lutheranism to be particularly obligated,108 and at the core of which he regards the indefensible
personal relation to God, by which he admittedly risks
voicing his opposition to the non-institutional mediation
of the Church.109 The impact of Billing and Sderblom on
Swedish theology cannot be underestimated; the common
feature of this Luther interpretation and reception is the
dualistic reading of Luthers theology.110 In Norway,
a prime example of a critical, resistant reclamation of
Luthers Two Kingdom doctrine is finally provided by
Eivind Berggrav, who affirms the safeguarding of the
sanctity of the Law against the demonic distortion of
political power, thereby making it seem possible to save
the honour of the political theology of Lutheranism.111 It
cannot be overlooked, however, that in Sweden, too, the
various Reformation jubilees were exploited for the purpose of a Swedish separate path, to wit, with regards to
ecumenical as well as political objectives.112
That this occurred after the onset of National Socialist rule in Germany under the sign Deutscher Luthertag
1933 (German Luther Day) constituted a deliberate
orchestration, but did ultimately not prevent the failure
of this venture to send out the signal of an Evangelical
awakening and solidarity; the Sportpalast-rally under the
motto: Die vlkische Sendung Luthers (Luthers national
mission) virtually drove ecclesiastical conflicts in the
struggle between church and state in Germany.113
Dietz Lange: Eine andere LutherRenaissance, in: Notger Slenczka
/ Walter Sparn (Ed.): Luthers Erben. Studien zur Rezeptionsgeschichte
der reformatorischen Theologie Luthers. Festschrift fr Jrg Baur zum 75.
Geburtstag, Tbingen 2005, 245274, here 246.
98
106
Cf. Ulrich Gbler: Drei Typen theologischer Lutherdeutung um 1920:

Ernst Troeltsch, Reinhold Seeberg, Karl Holl, in: van Ingen / Labroisse,
LutherBilder im 20. Jahrhundert (FN 69), 187197.
107
Ibid., 264.
99
100
Ibid., 189.
108
Ibid., 265
101
Ibid., 193.
109
Ibid., 268.
102
Ibid., 195.
110
Ibid., 270f.
Ibid., 196.
111
Quoted from Lange, LutherRenaissance (see Comment XX), 273.
103
Christine SvinthVrge Pder: Die Lutherrenaissance im Kontext

des Reformationsjubilums. Gericht und Rechtfertigung bei Karl Holl,
19171921, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 191200.
104
105
34
Assel, Der andere Aufbruch (FN 98), 483486.
Anders Jarlert: Politische Inszenierung und Instrumentalisierung

von Hundertjahrfeier zur Reformation im 20. Jahrhundert in Schweden,
KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 262271.
112
113
Hansjrg Buss: Der Deutsche Luthertag 1933 und die Deutschen
The Luther Day in Dresden114 may serve as a good

example: it was initially postponed due to upcoming
elections in order to avoid any confession-political prevalence where the Evangelical section of the population
was concerned; it was adjourned yet again as a reaction
to the Sportpalast-rally and downgraded to serve merely
as a platform for the inauguration of the new bishop. The
event nevertheless availed itself of Luther for National
Socialist purposes.115 A blending takes place of national
consciousness and ethnic thinking, order of creation
theology and race theory, as well as a theological legitimisation of war.116
It is interesting to note that the Lutheran publication
organs in the United States of America, both of German
and Scandinavian provenance, were clearly inclined to
defend the National Socialist state against attacks from
the liberal press in the United States.117 By contrast,
reactions from Roman Catholic quarters remained the
exception.118
At the University of Halle-Wittenberg, in the context
of the Reformation celebrations that were held annually between 1927 and 1941, and under the terms of the
Weimar Republic, Luther Renaissance and Max Webers
theses of economic theory are reflected, whereas a prevalence of German Christian mediation attempts during
the first years of National Socialist rule and anti-Roman
Catholic and nationalist tones in the later years can be
discerned.119 A similar exploitation of Luther was also
involved in the name-giving for the University of Hal-
le-Wittenberg, not least against the background of the

Dehn case;120 in this instance Luthers name was used
for a German-national, ethnic, anti-Western and at the
same time anti-democratic tradition.121 This also includes
an attempt by the Church to legitimise the National
Socialist accession to power with a comparison of Luther
and Hitler,122 or, up to the annexations of 1938/39 and
the start of World War II, to utilise the Reformer as the
crown witness for Hitler.123
The Luther image in the literature of the twentieth

century
It would be highly interesting to trace the Luther-image
in the German literature of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries.124 Suffice it to say that Nietzsches Luther image
is ambivalent; on the one hand the Reformer from Wittenberg appears as a representative of German culture,125
but on the other as a reactionary revolutionary,126 since
the Reformation has apparently destroyed the precious
elements of the Renaissance.127 In later years Nietzsche
rejects Martin Luther as being a dogmatist who does not
share a scepticism in finding the truth, something that
is of crucial value to Nietzsche;128 it is merely Luthers
achievement in translating the Bible that he still regards
as being exemplary.129 A long-term effect of this approach
Raimund Hoenen: Gnther Dehn (18821970)Auenseiter fr
Frieden, in: Arno Sames (Ed.): 500 Jahre Theologie in Wittenberg und
Halle 15022002. Beitrge aus der Theologischen Fakultt der Martin
LutherUniversitt HalleWittenberg zum Universittsjubilum 2002.
LStRLO 6, Leipzig 2003, 161180.
120
Friedemann Stengel: Die Universitt und ihr NameMartin

Luther. Kontexte der Verleihung 1933, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 289318;
this is being disputed by Reichelt, Martin Luther als evangelischer
Schutzheiliger 1 (FN 119), 154158,168.
121
Christen, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 272288.

Nicola Willenberg: Mit Luther und Hitler fr Glauben und
Volkstum. Der Luthertag 1933 in Dresden, in: Tanner / Ulrich,
Spurenlese. Reformationsvergegenwrtigung als Standortbestimmung
(FN64), 195237.
114
Hartmut Lehmann: Muss Luther nach Nrnberg?. Deutsche

Schuld im Lichte der Lutherliteratur 1946/47, in: id.: Luthergedchtnis
18172017 (FN 10), 176188.
115
Gotthard Jasper: Vom christlichen Obrigkeitsstaat zur skularen

Demokratie. Von den Schwierigkeiten der deutschen Lutheraner im
20. Jahrhundert, die Politik zu verstehen, in: Spurenlese. Kulturelle
Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 379396, here 383, 385f.
116
Robert P. Ericksen: The Luther Anniversary and the Year 1933 in the
Mirror of U.S. Church Press Reports, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 319334.
117
Josef Pilvousek: Katholische Reaktionen auf das Luthergedenken im

Jahr der Machtergreifung, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 335346.
118
Silvio Reichelt: Martin Luther als evangelischer Schutzheiliger.

Die Reformationsfeiern an der Universitt HalleWittenberg
19271941, Teil 1: Die Feiern, in: Tanner / Ulrich, Spurenlese.
Reformationsvergegenwrtigung als Standortbestimmung (FN 64), 145
169; Sebastian Kranich: Martin Luther als evangelischer Schutzheiliger.
Die Reformationsfeiern an der Universitt HalleWittenberg 19271941,
Teil 2: Redner und Reden, ibid., 171193.
119
Hans Preu: Luther und Hitler. And, as covermount: Luther und die
Frauen, Erlangen 1933; on that point Hartmut Lehmann: Hans Preu
1933 ber Luther und Hitler, in: ibid.: Luthergedchtnis 18172017
(FN 10), 151159.
122
Hartmut Lehmann: Luther als Kronzeuge fr Hitler. Anmerkungen

zu Otto Scheels Lutherverstndnis in den 1930er Jahren, in: ibid.:
Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 160175; cf. the critical analysis of
the hypothesis that Luther paved the way for Hitler, see Uwe Siemon
Netto: Luther Als Wegbereiter Hitlers? Zur Geschichte eines Vorurteils,
Gtersloh 1993.
123
Cf. Kurt Aland: Martin Luther in der modernen Literatur, Witten

1973; Hartmut Laufhtte: Martin Luther in der deutschen Literatur des
19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, in: van Ingen / Labroisse, LutherBilder im 20.
Jahrhundert (FN 69), 2757.
124
Elrud Ibsch: Nietzsches LutherBild, in: van Ingen / Labroisse,

LutherBilder im 20. Jahrhundert (FN 69), 7990, here 80.
125
126
Ibid., 81.
127
Ibid., 82.
128
Ibid., 83.
129
Ibid., 84.
35
can be detected, amongst others, in the work of Stefan

Zweig and Thomas Mann. Where Zweig is concerned,
Luther is the fantastic man of action, totally caught up
in his black-and-white thinking, almost a werewolf, possessed by a tremendous fury, uninhibited by deference or
righteousness,130 a kind of blood and soil Luther131 as
it were. According to Zweigs self-identification, Luthers
antitype is Erasmus, who is a representative of the intellectual in an era characterised by mass hysteria; by
comparison Martin Luther is being attributed with downright Hitlerian traits.132 With regard to Thomas Mann,
who rejects this antithesis, the Luther-image does however remain an ambivalent one; he is the embodiment
of Manns beloved German after all, the progenitor of
German inwardness133 towards which he makes a virtual declaration of love, while he does precisely not
discern a (German) alternative in an Erasmus-oriented
humanism134 even though he does observe, within the
Lutheran features of German history albeit not necessarily so the existence of the pathogen that leads to
perdition,135 that is to say misdirected special gifts, since a
connection from Luther to the western European idea of
freedom in the political sense could not be attained.136 A
more radical stance is taken by the critics of the twentieth
century who consider Martin Luther to be the forerunner
of German fascism, like Erich Fromm for instance, who
misconstrues Luthers concept of faith as having much in
common with the principle of complete submission by
the individual to state and Fhrer.137
From a Marxist point of view138 the Reformer was, for
an extended period of time, construed as being a princes
servant who had betrayed the peasants and their revolution. Only in the late phase of the GDR and in the context
of the heritage discussion was Luther reintegrated as
one of the traditions that shaped national identity; in

doing so, Luthers Reformation was viewed as a platform
which allowed the pre-Reformation popular movements, insurrections and conspiracies to consolidate
into a broad movement.139 The popular movement did,
however, take on a life of its own, even though Luthers
Reformation had laid the key foundations.140 Thus the
Reformation becomes the catalyst for an epoch of early
bourgeois revolution141 with a definite religious base; a
new understanding of the relationship between God and
Man142 was said to have initiated a progressive development.143 In view of the Marxist Luther-image one can
thus justifiably speak of a dual, grotesque exploitation of
Luther.144
Luther jubilees during the second half of the

twentieth century
A distinct feature of the 450th Reformation Jubilee in
1967 was that it reclaimed and reinterpreted Luther as
heritage, admittedly without political actualisation for
the most part and at least where the voices of the Church
in East and West were concerned, and can, at the same
time, be regarded as a huge media event, as an ecumenical reminder due to the Catholic discovery of Luther
and as a German-German jubilee and even as celebrations of church and state in the GDR.145 A genuine
encounter between church historians and Marxist historical research did however not take place.146 The latter did,
however, begin to appreciate the global significance of
Luthers Reformation, which constituted an important
contribution by the German people towards the history
of Europe and mankind.147 The SED (Socialist Unity
Party of Germany) and churches in the GDR pursued
Adolf Laube: Martin Luthers ReformationTeil der deutschen
frhbrgerlichen Revolution, in: Martin Luther und seine Zeit,
Sonderausstellung des Museums fr Deutsche Geschichte / Martin Luther
Ehrung 1983 der DDR, 25, here 4.
139
Ferdinand van Ingen: Die ErasmusLutherKonstellation bei Stefan

Zweig und Thomas Mann, in: van Ingen / Labroisse, LutherBilder im 20.
Jahrhundert (FN 69), 91118, here 101.
130
131
Ibid., FN 130, 99.
140
Laube, Martin Luthers Reformation (see Comment XX), 5.
Ibid., FN 69, 95; ; cf. Lehmann, Luther Statues (see Comment XX),
100109.
Cornelis Augustijn: Das marxistische Lutherbild 1983, in: van

Ingen / Labroisse, LutherBilder im 20. Jahrhundert (wie Anm. XX),
22323238, here 225.
133
Ibid., FN 69, 105.
142
Ibid., 227.
134
Ibid., FN 69, 108.
143
Ibid., 228.
135
Ibid., FN 69, 106.
144
132
Eberhard Mannack: Lutherein geistiger Ahnherr Hitlers?, in: van

Ingen / Labroisse, LutherBilder im 20. Jahrhundert (FN 69), 167185,
here 170.
136
137
Ibid., FN 135, 179.
Hartmut Lehmann: Das marxistische Lutherbild von Engels bis

Honecker, in: id.: Luthergedchtnis 18172017 (FN 10), 257270
138
36
141
Ibid., 268; cf. Hartmut Lehmann: Das marxistische Lutherbild

von Engels bis Honecker, in: Peer Schmidt: (ed,.) Luther zwischen den
Kulturen Zeitgenossenschaft Weltwirkung, Gttingen 2004, 501514.
Gerhard Ringshausen: Das 450. Reformationsjubilum in West und
Ost, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 373399, here 373.
145
146
Ibid., 385.
147
Quotations cf. Ibid., 450. 394.
opposing, sometimes conflicting objectives concerning the Reformation Jubilee;148 the same held true for
interpretational sovereignty and organisational sovereignty with regards to events, particularly in view of
the fact that the commemoration of the Reformation was
approximately at the same time as the 50th anniversary
of the October Revolution.149 From a theological point of
view the failure to reformulate the theological core message of justification during the Fourth Assembly of the
Lutheran World Federation cast a shadow on the festivities.150 The theme of renewal pervaded many comments,
reflecting the respective mood, especially in sections of
West German society on the eve of 1968.151 For the Federal Republic of Germany (before 1989) it can be argued
that, after World War II, an endorsement of democratic
principles prevailed amongst Lutheran theologians, too,
who had knowledge of the boundaries of the state, the
significance of the separation of powers and the political responsibility of Christians, even though they were
still hoping for a re-Christianisation of German society during the first post-war years.152 It was only later,
with the paradigm of the Churchs public contract,
that a change in position towards society and state took
place.153 As far as the GDR was concerned, system-critical concepts and those that transcended practical politics
wrestled with one another in defining the Churchs position, to the point of the repudiation of the institutional
self-interest of the Church.154
Special attention should be awarded to the fact that
the Roman Catholic public and media studies now also
began to pay tribute to Luther, something which would
admittedly have been inconceivable without the (Second
Vatican) Council.155 Thus Hubert Jedin was able to
Wolfgang Flgel: Konkurrenz um Reformation und Luther. Die
Konfessionsjubilen der Kirchen und der SED in den Jahren 1967 und
1983, , in: Tanner / Ulrich, Spurenlese. Reformationsvergegenwrtigung
als Standortbestimmung (FN 64),239285, here 249.
148
149
Ibid., 257f.
150
Ringshausen, (FN 145), 380382.
151
Ibid., 385389.
Jasper, Vom christlichen Obrigkeitsstaat zur skularen Demokratie

(FN 116), 388393.
Ibid., 394f.
Detlef Pollack / Hedwig Richter: Widerstand und Ergebung.

Theologische Wurzeln politischer Standortbestimmungen in den
evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR, in: Spurenlese. Kulturelle Wirkungen
der Reformation (see Comment XX), 397427, here 406.
154
Barbara Henze: Ohne das Konzil undenkbar. Das

Reformationsgedenken 1967 in den katholischen Bistumszeitungen, KZG/
CCH 26 (2013), 347372.
155
156
Quotations see ibid., 353f.
157
Lehmann, Martin Luther und der 31. Oktober 1517 (FN 87), 3032.
158
Henze, Ohne das Konzil nicht denkbar (FN 155), 371, cf. 358.
Peter Manns / Harding Meyer: kumenische Erschlieung

Martin Luthers. Referate und Ergebnisse einer internationalen
Theologenkonsultation, Paderborn / Frankfurt/M., 1983, here 13.
159
Harding Meyer and Heinz Schtte (Hg.): Confessio Augustana.

Bekenntnis des einen Glaubens. Gemeinsame Untersuchung lutherischer
und katholischer Theologen, PaderbornFrankfurt/M. 1980.
160
Quotation see Johanna Rahner: Luther 83 und die Folgen. Eine

rmischkatholische Perspektive, KZG/CCH 26 (2013), 400411.
161
Peter Manns: Martin Luther, Ketzer oder Vater im Glauben?

Hannover 1980; Peter Manns (text); Helmuth Nils Loose (photos):
Martin Luther, Freiburg im Breisgau / Basel / Wien / Lahr 1982, 219;
Peter Manns: Martin Luther: der unbekannte Reformator; ein Lebensbild.
Freiburg im Breisgau / Basel / Wien 1985; cf. Thnissen, Katholische
Perspektiven (FN 13), 437446, here 442.
162
152
153
acknowledge all that is great in Luther, even though he

still considered the Reformation of the sixteenth century
to be illegitimate.156 Others, however, sought to understand him as a Reform Catholic157 and, even more so in the
light of the (Second Vatican) Council, to closely align the
desire for renewal with efforts towards church unity.158
Thus, within the context of Martin Luthers 500th birthday, this led to first beginnings towards an ecumenical
interpretation of the Reformer from Wittenberg: Luther
was an immensely strong impetus to be experienced, and
ecumenical stagnation to be overcome in key areas.159
The fundamental confession of the Lutheran Reformation, the Confessio Augustana from 1530, had previously
been acknowledged in Lutheran/Roman Catholic discussions as being the confession of the one faith160 and, as a
consequence, Pope John Paul II spoke of a consensus in
central fundamental truths.161 Peter Manns even dared to
refer to Luther as a father in faith even though he played
Luther off against Melanchton and the confessionalisation
in his wake.162 This is merely an indication of the fact that
it was not only the Roman Catholics who had changed
their view on Martin Luther, at least amongst a section
of those who had studied theology,163 but rather that, as
documented by the study Lehrverurteilungenkirchentrennend (The Condemnations of the Reformation Era,
Do They Still Divide?),164 an entirely new hermeneutic
method: differentiated consensus emerged.165
On the Protestant side, the Luther celebrations of 1983
Cf. Otto Hermann Pesch: Martin Luther im katholischen Urteil.

Zwischen Verteufelung und dankbarer Aneignung, in: Spurenlese.
Kulturelle Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5), 449483.
163
Karl Lehmann / Wolfhart Pannenberg: Lehrverurteilungen

kirchentrennend?, vol. 1: Rechtfertigung, Sakramente und Amt im
Zeitalter der Reformation und heute, Freiburg 1988.
164
165
Johanna Rahner: Luther 83 und die Folgen (FN 161), 404.
37
were characterised by an all-Protestant, even all-German

state of mind; the relatively high attention afforded by
the political sector to ecclesiastical processes in East and
West and the cooperation of state- and church representatives is remarkable. In a sense the churches acted as a
Protestant fellowship of remembrance.166 This occurred,
despite efforts by the SED to prevent schedule conflicts of
party and Church events,167 in some cases also against the
historical-political intentions of the GDR leadership,
which busied itself with an almost martial exploitation
of Luther in the domestic and foreign policy objectives
of the GDR in order to gain international recognition
for the GDR, especially in the countries of the Western
world;168 these ambitions did however, for the most part,
end in failure, since even the transformed image of the
Reformation was accepted neither by the people of the
GDR nor by the SED cadres.169 The churches in the GDR,
on the other hand, strove for establishing identity and
strengthening the faith of the congregations; they were
obliged, however, to endure the balancing act between
a battle for self-preservation against the usurpation
attempts by the State party and a struggle for their own
authenticity.170 They did not always succeed, seeing that
there existed an increasing willingness to adapt on behalf
of the Evangelical Churches in view of the power structures and decline in membership that seemed to suggest
this, and seeing that Karl Barth admittedly not necessarily a Lutheran had, with his Letter to a Pastor in the
GDR in 1958, bestowed a virtually theological consecration on the minority situation.171 This was accompanied
by a socialism-related positioning within many member
churches of the World Council of Churches,172 which
favoured a climate in which the churches in the Soviet
domain were able to function with a certain latitude.173
Claudia Lepp: Luther in besonderer Gemeinschaft. Die Evangelische
Kirche in Deutschland, der Bund der Evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR
und das Lutherjubilum 1983, KZG 26 (2013), 412421.
166
167
Flgel, Konkurrenz um Reformation und Luther (FN 148), 267.
Hartmut Lehmann: Zur Entstehung der 15 Thesen ber Martin

Luther in der DDR im Jahre 1983, in: id.: Luthergedchtnis 18172017
(FN 10), 232256; id.: The Rehabilitation of Martin Luther in the GDR;
or, why Thomas Mntzer failed to stabilize the moorings of socialist
ideology, ibid, 271280.
168
169
Flgel, Konkurrenz um Reformation und Luther (FN 148), 284.
170
Ibid., 268, 275.
171
Pollack and Richter: Widerstand und Ergebung (FN 154), 418f.
172
Ibid., 423.
Robert F. Goeckel: Political an Institutional Issues of Lutheran

churches in Communist Systems. The Legacy of Luther with Particular
Reference to the GDR Churches, in: reformationsgeschichtliche Soziett
173
38
What is Lutheranisms viability in the light of

modern issues?
The Morphologie des Luthertums by Werner Elert174
probably constitutes the most consequential if not
entirely unproblematic attempt to advance from the
periphery of impact to a theological approach to church
organisations in an interconfessional manner; he executes this by making a fundamental distinction between
dynamis and form.175 For Elert, Lutheranism is not a
once-configured and concluded variable, but rather one
that finds itself living out its history.176 Interdenominationally, the confessional dynamis is in independent
competition with extracanonical motifs which, in
the course of enlightenment, is threatened by the loss
of the Evangelical approach.177 He goes on to say that it
was only in the nineteenth century that a Lutheran restoration occurred, inducing the Evangelical approach
to generate entirely new forms of expression, right
up to sociology and ideology.178 Notger Slenczka has
concluded that, for Elert, it is not only a question of
depicting Lutheranisms dogmatic, Lutheran, ideological
and social forms of realisation emanating from its religious centre, but rather that this depiction is shared by an
interest to reach the Modern Era by means of a positive
determination of the relationship between Lutheranism and its centre, the Doctrine of Justification, in such
a way that this centre itself becomes an entity of critique
of the Modern Era.179 According to Elert, an indissoluble fusion of the historical form of Lutheranism with
German culture initially occurs, but also with other
nationalities,180 as he tries to demonstrate with
Hungary,181 the Slavonic182 and Baltic183 peoples,
der MartinLutherUniversitt HalleWittenberg: Spurenlese. Kulturelle
Wirkungen der Reformation (FN 5) 429445.
Werner Elert: Morphologie des Luthertums. Theologie und
Weltanschauung des Luthertums hauptschlich im 16. und 17.
Jahrhundert; Mnchen 1931 (19653); vol. 2: Soziallehren u.
Sozialwirkungen des Luthertums; Mnchen 1932 (19653); [English: The
Shaping of Lutheranism]; the quotations follow the German edition.
174
175
Ibid., V.
Notger Slenczka, Selbstkonstitution und Gotteserfahrung. W. Elerts

Deutung der neuzeitlichen Subjektivitt im Kontext der Erlanger
Theologie. Studien zur Erlanger Theologie II, Gttingen 1999, 148.
176
177
Slenczka, Elert, 149.
178
Elert, in Slenczka, Elert, 150.
179
Slenczka, Elert, 153.
180
Elert, Morphologie 2 (FN 174), 131.
181
Ibid., 169189.
182
Ibid., 190208.
183
Ibid., 208214.
Finland184 and the Scandinavian nations.185 In this context even the development of German Enlightenment
towards German Idealism via the German national literature should be seen as a phase in the history of
Lutheranism. It is the history of its secularisation.186 This
point of view culminates in the statement that Germanys intellectual history is, on the whole, a long-distance
effect of Lutheranism.187 According to Elert, the Doctrine
of Justification thus fulfils a generative function for
the worldview of Lutheranism188 in which the facts of
what Elert calls natural knowledge of the world are [sc.
not] negated,189 but in such a way that natural world
orientation is affirmed by objecting to it190 seeing that it
is defined as being the antithesis of the God-experience
of the Gospel.191 An inconsistency in Elerts concept can
thereby neither be overlooked nor cleared up, namely that
the construal of mankinds natural situation within the
inescapable antithetics of the claim to liberty and heteronomy as an experience of God is only made possible
by the Gospel.192 This, according to Elert, also applies to
the field of social ethics, seeing that the Church, in being
faithful to its mission, proclaims the Gospel in antithesis
to all worldliness and all ethical contentedness.193
In 1934 and 1936, and in clear contrast to his colleague in Erlangen, Hermann Sasse cautioned against
three misconstructions of the Lutheran Reformation:194
Lutheranism itself does not respond (sc. to the question: What is Lutheran?). It is unable to give an answer
to those who inquire after its essence; it is a mute concept. It is a different matter, however, if we inquire after
the Lutheran Church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church
is not an idea, it is a reality. It is not mute, it speaks.195
He further states that the heroic misconstruance culminates in hero-worship and apotheosis of Luther, which
does indeed extend right into the Luther Renaissance
and during which a personalistic view of the Reforma-
tion prevails. The person of Luther does, however, recede

into the background soon after the first generation, only
to be heroically exaggerated in the nineteenth century as
being the hero from Worms or Gods man-at-arms.196
According to Goethe, who understood the Reformation
to be a liberation and advancement of culture, historical-cultural misunderstanding construes the Reformation
as constituting a date of intellectual history in general.
Luther on the other hand, according to Sasse, poses an
obstacle to the modern sense of self.197 This national
misconstruance apparently sees Martin Luther as being
the protest of Nordic man against the piety and the
ecclesiastical system of Roman Catholicism and aims at
a German national church, which had arisen during the
Third Reich. To Sasse this is one of the most dangerous heterodoxies.198 In this respect the Reformation and
the theology of Martin Luther are deemed to be universally and ecumenically relevant, even where resistance of
his doctrine is concerned. The latter, in the form of the
Doctrine of Justification, constituted the renewal of the
Church through rediscovery and renewed proclamation
of the pure doctrine of the gospel of the forgiveness of
sins.199
Notger Slenczka, in his critical reception of Elert and
others, has attempted to determine the relationship of
Lutheranism and the Modern Era. In doing so, he identifies Justification as constituting an imposition on a
new understanding of self. This included the profiling
of this Lutheran understanding of subjectivity against the
modern concept of the subject,200 since it was a matter
of nothing less than a new determination of identity and
the subjects understanding of self. Slenczka calls this the
modern foreignness of the Lutheran Doctrine of Justification;201 the connective according to Slenczka lies in
understanding the subjects indefensibility pertaining to
its prevailing certainty of truth on the one hand, and in
embracing and acquiring salvation on the other.202 Slenczka thereby ascribes enduring validity to Justification
184
Ibid., 214223.
185
Ibid., 226250.
186
Elert, in Slenczka, Elert (FN 176) 227.
196
Ibid., 3136.
187
Ibid., 227.
197
Ibid., 3648.
188
Ibid., 244.
198
Ibid., 4960, here 49.
189
Ibid., 244.
199
Ibid., 71.
190
Ibid.
200
191
Ibid., 246.
192
Ibid., 351.
193
Elert, Morphologie 2 (FN 174), 465.
Notger Slenczka: Luthertum und Neuzeit. Bemerkungen zum

ambivalenten Verhltnis von Rechtfertigungsglauben und neuzeitlicher
Subjektivitt, in. Reinhard Rittner (Ed.): Was heit hier lutherisch!,
Aktuelle Perspektiven aus Theologie und Kirche, Hannover 2004,
164192, here 188.
194
Hermann Sasse, Was heit lutherisch?, Mnchen 1934, 21936.
201
Ibid., 190.
195
Ibid., 12.
202
Ibid., 181.
39
as being a purely external declaration of righteousness of

man before God that remains external, in the sense of an
imputative doctrine of reconciliation and justification203
but admittedly also, in this interpretation, to the basic
difference of the Reformations fundamental insights
from the Modern Era.204
In relation and relevance to the modern day generation, and in my assessment, Oswald Bayers view of Luther
and Lutheran Reformation lends itself to be sketched into
this relationship picture that is filled with such tension.205
In his view Luther remains the theologian who, in the
light of his own indigence, proceeds to gain open space
from the inexhaustible abundance of Scripture.206 The
Word of God, consolidated in the assurance of absolution,
embarks on a course of church- and world-history,207 not
without being challenged but ultimately triumphant. For
therein lies the presence of God, who looks after us and
administers to our needs, so that we are constituted in
the Word of God.208 God the Holy Spirit has sovereignly
bound Himself thereto and, to wit, to the spoken language and literal Word in the book of Holy Scripture.209
We are therefore being expounded in our existence, and
precisely therein lies the idiosyncratic passivity of our
experience of faith,210 which culminates in the Christ-experience pro me: the communicative Being of Jesus
Christ itself, in which the Triune God assigns and gives
Himself in the incarnate Word with the sacraments of
Baptism and Holy Communion, as well as with every
sermon that is in accord with these sacraments,211 creating an excentrical way of being for a Christian because
the Gospel, as the second, decisive, conclusive Word
of God, speaks for me.212 Bayer dodges the subject of
freedom in its temporal dimensionality in such a way
that he conceives of that which is specifically Christian
in the concept of freedom as being the liberation from
the iniquities of the past and the fear of the future;213 he
203
Ibid., 183f.
204
Ibid., 192.
presumes a characteristic of modernism to be the coherent subject that is in control of itself and that can escalate
itself to a pathos of individuality and omnipotence.214
He identifies the feeling of a dissipated individuality as
a characteristic of postmodernism, combined with the
risk of a misrecognition and relinquishment of responsibility and accountability.215 He does nonetheless refrain
from accusing modernism of an ill-considered identification of subjectivity and self-assuredness, and from hastily
accusing postmodernism of relativistic arbitrariness.216
Ultimately, however, he is of the opinion that the individualistic antinomism of modernism and postmodernism
will, in turn, find a canonical conclusion.217 And The
generally asserted Gospel of Freedom compels a person,
due to his innate characteristic, to redeem and actualise
it himself. Thus (post)modern man is condemned to
freedom.218
By contrast, Bayer understands and posits the Gospel
from a Lutheran perspective, and strictly as a categorical gift for which there exists no human disposition:
Gospel means: God speaks for me in the fragmentation
of the time and dissipation of identities.219 Christologically formulated this means that only on the strength of
the incarnation of Jesus Christ my identity is reassigned
to me, which I have while existing within a persistent
stranger. Bayer perceives this to be in fundamental
contradiction not only with modern metaphysics of
substance but also with modern metaphysics of subject;
he thereby identifies the crucial point of contention in
the conflict between Reformation theology and modern
and postmodern thought.220 On the other hand, he
considers an attitude whereby one receives a new
excentrical identity, which occurs in faith that is
founded on the authoritative Word of the Gospel to be
helpful and salutary.221
Oswald Bayer: Martin Luthers Theologie. Eine Vergegenwrtigung,

Tbingen 2004.
reformatorischer Theologie, in: Notger Slenczka / Walther Sparn (ed.):

Luthers Erben. Studien zur Rezeptionsgeschichte der reformatorischen
Theologie. Festschrift Jrg Baur, Tbingen 2005, 297310, here 297.
206
Ibid., 66.
214
Ibid., 299.
207
Ibid., 69.
215
Ibid., 300.
208
Ibid., 77.
216
Ibid.
209
Quotation ibid., 84.
217
Ibid., 303.
210
Ibid., 150.
218
Alluding to JeanPaul Sarte, ibid., 304.
211
Ibid., 151.
219
Ibid., 307.
212
Ibid., 152.
220
Ibid., 308.
213
Oswald Bayer: Mit Luther in der Gegenwart. Die diagnostische Kraft
221
Ibid., 309.
205
40
Culturally influential or critical of contemporaneity an (apparent) alternative?

What fundamental insights can Lutheran theology and
Church provide as genuine contribution toward ecumenical Christianity, and how can these insights be
communicated to our time?222 Appertaining to this, absolutely and unconditionally, is the theme of (Christian)
freedom, as put back on the agenda by Luther in 1520.
Spelled out in the Lutheran way it appears as response to
the question as to how I can exist before God, thus constituting the key question of our existence.223
Christianity is thereby under an obligation to be critical of contemporaneity. The Church and its members can,
after all, not escape contemporaneity, neither can it be
denied that its members are influenced and imperceptibly
governed by trends and tendencies of a world and society that is not only all around them, but in which they
live themselves and that consequently also has an effect
on their being. And even in the rejection of contemporary
developments where the Church or its individual members, based on their Christian responsibility, are of the
opinion that they ought to be met with disapproval, such
positioning proves itself to be contemporary in nature.
For the Church to manage its contemporaneity in a
critical manner therefore means, first and foremost, that it
becomes aware of its own interwovenness with the times
in which it exists. It will therefore first take to heart that
which it voices in a critical manner to the world outside
itself, if it wants to ensure the credibility of its declaration
and message. Thus the Church itself will always have to
answer to the question as to whether and to what extent
the Church, together with its members, holds itself to
those divine standards that it feels compelled to address.
And it will be obliged to confess and admit to many a
transgression against divine standards, both on behalf
of its members and also of itself in its aggregate. But it is
exactly this stance that will not affect its credibility but
rather strengthen it, provided that it is spoken, not from
a position of hubris, but from one of befitting humility
and informed by the knowledge of its own failings with
regards to the divine standard when it speaks from its
conscience in this manner. In that case a confession of

guilt by the Church does have its place and is meaningful.
The insight of an unchurched contemporary has possibly been obstructed so that he, when he seeks the source
of freedom, not in God but within himself as do all
those for whom God does not constitute the origin of
their freedom, is condemned to actualise it in a frantic
and pathological manner. However, in Mans attempt to
assert his freedom he simultaneously forfeits it. Into and
against this situation of what is still modern man, the
call of God and the Church goes out towards freedom,224
but what freedom?225
An ecclesiastical canonical Luther

In this context it should be noted226 that, where the
authors of the Lutheran Confessions are concerned,
Luther is regarded as being the authoritative, hermeneutic frame of reference for the proper understanding
of especially the Confessio Augustana.227 They explicitly
follow this Luther in determining the relation between
the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures and the subordinate Confessions of the early Church as well as the
Lutheran Reformation, so that Holy Scripture alone is
the one true guiding principle, according to which all
teachers and teaching are to be judged and evaluated.228
Holy Scripture is and remains exclusively canon, whereas
the Confessions take up a witness function,229 admittedly
with the claim to truth.230 By contrast, the theologians of
ones own camp are at least on principle not denied the
capability to err.231 During the second half of the sixteenth
century and with this canonisation of Luther, Melanchthons scholars, who understood themselves to be Luthers
heirs, have attempted to reconstitute and safeguard the
tension-filled unity and polar harmony of Lutheran theology and Church.
Oswald Bayer: Freiheit als Antwort. Zur theologischen Ethik,
Tbingen 1995, 8993.
224
Martin Brecht: Die Rezeption von Luthers Freiheitsverstndnis in der

frhen Neuzeit, LJ 62 (1995), 121151.
225
Cf. Werner Kln: Was machen wir aus Luther?, in: KarlHermann
Kandler (Ed.): Das Bekenntnis der Kirche zu Fragen von Ehe und Kirche.
Die Vortrge der lutherischen Tage 2009 und 2010, (= Lutherisch glauben
6), Neuendettelsau 2011, 90117, esp. 113117.
226
FC SD VII 41, in Robert Kolb / Timothy Wengert (ed.): The Book

of Concord. The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2000, 601.
227
Joachim Track: Die lutherische Stimme in der kumene, in: Reinhard

Rittner (ed.): Was heit hier Lutherisch!. Aktuelle Perspektiven aus
Theologie und kirche,.Hannover 2004, 234275.
222
Michael Beintker: Freiheit aus Glauben Freiheitssuche des

Menschen von heute. Gemeinsamkeiten und Konflikte, in: ibid.:
Rechtfertigung in der neuzeitlichen Lebenswelt. Theologische
Erkundungen, Tbingen 1998, 6679.
223
228
FC SD, Binding Summary 3, Kolb/Wengert, 527.
FC SD, Binding Summary 12, Kolb/Wengert, 529.

230
FC SD, Binding Summary, Ibid.
231
FC SD, Antitheses 19, Kolb/Wengert, 529531.
41
For the Lutheran Church, it is that Luther who

became instrumental, with his catechisms, in presenting
the Christian community with an introduction to a life
guided by God.232 He thereby points out that Holy Baptism is Gods salutary self-communication, which brings
to us God grace, the entire Christ, and the Holy Ghost
with his gifts;233 just as the Sacrament of the Altar, which
he views as this great a treasure, which is daily administered and distributed among Christians, provides the
new human being with constant fortification in his battle
against Satan, death and sin;234 and just as the Lords
Prayer invokes Gods irrefutable willingness for mercy in
just such a battle, a battle that becomes inevitable for a
Christian precisely by partaking in Gods self-giving and
self-revelation, a Christian who, in the battle of the Gospel
for the Gospel, takes on his enemies.235 Luther is perceived
and presumed as being the one who construes the Credo
for us, thereby gratefully accepting what God does for us
and gives to us236 and the implementation thereof in the
reality of Christs liberation act, since Christ has brought
us from the devil to God, from death to life, from sin to
righteousness, and keeps us there.237 It is that Luther who
substantiates the identity of Christianity and Church as
being Trinitarian, and who identifies the Christocentric
aspect as being a distinctive feature of Christendom and
Christianity, compared to all other forms of religiosity
(and a-religiosity) that are not based on Christ or inspired
by the Holy Spirit.238 It is the Luther who is able to discern Law and Gospel as being Gods immanent manner
of speaking and acting239 in which the gradient from the
extrinsic to the actual work of God proceeds in such
a way240 that the Church must never be found wanting in
proclaiming the declaration of forgiveness and the salvation in Christ, seeing that it is a matter of comforting and
consoling those that are frightened and fainthearted.241
Cf. Werner Kln: Anleitung zu einem Gottgelenkten Leben. Die
innere Systematik der Katechismen Luthers, LuThK 29 (2005), 1835.
It is precisely this Luther who delineates Gods Commandments in the context of faith as a directive for
everyone to make them a matter of daily practice in all
circumstances, in all activities and dealings242 and to serve
as an instruction manual for a Christian life of human
sympathy that is pleasing to God. It is this Luther who
places the Gospel in its forms of implementation, proclamation, baptism, Eucharist and confessional penitence as
the third sacrament,243 at the centre of an encompassing
Christian understanding of a worship service.244 It is the
Luther for whom the wording of the Sacraments Words
of Institution in their literal sense was so immovably
fixed that he could not back down in this regard whenever the real presence of the body and blood of Christ
in the celebratory worship of precisely this testament of
Christ was called into question245 and is therefore being
invoked against the Crypto-Philippistic deviances of the
second-generation theologians in Wittenberg.246 It is the
Luther who, with his Christological deliberations on the
conceptual conceivability of the universal presence of the
human nature in Christ even after Easter and Ascension,
as well as on the promised sacramental presence of Christ
sacrificed, has played a crucial role in the formation of
the Lutheran profile concerning Eucharistic doctrine and
Christology during the internal reformatory disputes of
the sixteenth century.247 It is the Luther who, by the differentiation of the two realms,248 the release of secularism
from clerical paternalism, as well as the theological facilitation of the differentiation between penultimate and
ultimate (D. Bonhoeffer), thereby paving the way for the
separation of Church and State (even if the Reformation
churches in the Reich existed as state churches for centuries); yet without ever having relinquished Gods reign of
power over all ages, nations, people and spheres of life.249
It is the Luther who urged the Christian community of
solidarity to bear in mind that we must all indeed help us
232
233
Large Catechism, Holy Baptism 41, Kolb/Wengert, 461.
234
Large Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar 39, Kolb/Wengert,

470f.
235
Large Catechism, The Lords Prayer, Third Petition, 6567, Kolb/

Wengert, 448f.; Fourth Petition, 8081, Kolb/Wengert, 451.
236
Large Catechism, The Creed, Third Article 67, Kolb/Wengert, 440.
237
238
239
Cf. the citations from Luther Luthers exegesis of Luke 5, 111 in the
summer homily of 1544, in FC SD V 12, Kolb/Wengert, 583f.
240
FC SD V 23, Kolb/Wengert, 585f..
241
FC SD V, 12, Kolb/Wengert, 584.
42
242
Large Catechism, 332, Kolb/Wengert, 431.
243
Large Catechism, Holy Baptism 74, Kolb/Wengert, 465.
244
Smalcald Articles III, 4, Concerning the Gospel, Kolb/Wengert, 319.
245
Large Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar, 814, Kolb/Wengert,

467f.
246
Cf. e.g. FC SD VIII 4143, Kolb/Wengert, 623f..
247
Cf. the citations from Luther, Large Confession concerning the Holy
Supper (1528) in FC SD VII 92103, Kolb/Wengert, 609f.
248
Large Catechism, Fourth Commandment, 150ff; 158ff, Kolb/

Wengert, 407f.
249
Large Catechism, First Commandment 26, Kolb/Wengert, 389;

Large Catechism, The Lords Prayer, Fourth Petition 7679, Kolb/
Wengert, 451.
to believe, to love, to pray, and to fight against the devil,250

meaning the elementary and fundamental day-to-day life
of a Christian existence, advising us to engage in the lifelong practice of being a Christian.
Would it not be prudent to place the emphasis also
ecumenically in such a way that the various churches
try to call people back into the fellowship that God
grants with Himself and, in doing so, into the freedom
that God bestows on those that believe? In this sense the
biblical-reformatory Doctrine of Justification is at the
same time the doctrine of Christian freedom and as
such the chiefarticleoftheGospel, the preservation of
which is paramount.251 In the context of the reality and
effectiveness of the Gospel, the believers subsequently
live in a liberated self-circumscribed environment, albeit
by means of the Will of God, the law.252 In this sense,
human freedom in the context of Christian faith and
thus Church proclamation means response,253 the grateful response of the human being who has been liberated
towards freedom by God Himself through the sacrificial,
death-defying commitment of His Son (Gal. 5:1). The call
to return to God, the call to responsibility before God
that it is the duty of a Christian to convey is indeed nothing but the call to freedom, the freedom of the children
of God.
The Rev. Dr. Werner Kln is professor of systematic theology
at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Oberursel, Germany.
250
Large Catechism, The Sacrament of the Altar, 87, Kolb/Wengert,

476.
251
Foritisnecessaryto retain the teaching of Christianfreeedom in

the churches Itisnecessaryto retain thechiefarticleoftheGospel/
Necesse est enim in ecclesiis retineri doctrinam de libertate christiana
Necesse est retineri praecipuum evangelii locum (AC XXVIII 51f., Kolb/
Wengert 99).
252
In this context Peters speaks of the breathing space of Christs

everlasting grace cf. Albrecht Peters, Gesetz und Evangelium (= HST 2).
Gtersloh 1981, 1994, 54.
253
Bayer, Freiheit als Antwort (FN 224), 74.
43
As Lutherans, we have a history that

dates back to Wittenberg and long
Decline in American
Lutheranism: A Study
before; as preachers, teachers and

evangelists, we are called to bear
witness in the present.
by James Arne Nestigen
hank you very much for the delightful invitation The melting pot
and the welcome that has gone along with it. It is a From the beginning of trans-Atlantic migration, as
joy to actually be in Wittenberg.
Europeans began settling in North America, the ChrisBefore beginning, I would like to make a couple of tian Church has faced a particular challenge. In Europe,
comments about my method. There are wide spread whether Roman Catholic, Protestant or even radical or
perceptions of a decline in American Lutheranism. But left wing, the Church had been able to rely on the coercive
perception isnt necessarily reality. The question is how to power of the State. As Sidney Earl Mead1 pointed out in
measure or document the losses.
a classic essay some years ago, conWhen I was working on my docditions in America undermined the
The ELCAs problem
toral dissertation some years ago, I
use of coercion, forcing the Church
has been its left wing;
became convinced that the health
to rely on persuasion. The frontier
Missouris challenge
of the Church could be measured
was always close enough to hand so
has come from its right,
by its use of the Book of Romans.
that dissenters faced with coercion
Pauls letter has driven several major
which pounces on
simply moved, evading attempts to
reforms, such as the Lutheran. In
silence them. The disestablishment
suggestions of variance
times of decline, his letter disappears
clause of the American Constitution,
as proof positive of
into the background. So between
which prohibits the use of legal coercorruption, to be dealt
1225 and 1275, the high medieval
cion to maintain the Church, simply
with coercively, with tar ratified the reality geography had
reform, there were five or six major
commentaries on Romans, including
and feathers.
imposed.
that of Thomas Aquinas. Between
Adapting to this new circum1275 and 1450, there was one and that was derivative, a stance, the Church was forced to market itself, developing
collection of the comments of the fathers.
appeals that would encourage voluntary association, the
Evaluating the vitality of American Lutheranism, condition of membership. Already in the early eighteenth
instead of using Romans, I am going to look at the way century, preachers such as Jonathan Edwards a strict
the churches have treated Luther. The Confessions have Calvinist were promoting awakenings, vivid styles of
a prior authority; Luthers authority is less formal, giving preaching and other strategies that sought to move heara wider range of possibility. He has enough standing to ers to an emotional pitch in which they would make
demand a reading by Lutherans, but subscription to commitments to the congregations. George Whitfield,
Luthers theology is not formally required. Consequently, one of the great Methodist preachers of this new style,
there is a little more range of interpretation.
stopped in Philadelphia and visited with Henry Melchior
Secondly, like Hermann Sasse, I believe that the Muhlenberg, who had been sent from Halle to minister to
Churchs good health requires a balance between the past Lutheran immigrants to the new land. The Great Awakenand the present. As Lutherans, we have a history that ing, as it came to be called, swept across the eastern third
dates back to Wittenberg and long before; as preachers, of the country, originally in the eighteenth, then again in
teachers and evangelists, we are called to bear witness in the early nineteenth century. Not being able to rely on the
the present. This sets up a dialectic in which fidelity to our
heritage expresses itself in the willingness to engage pres1 Sidney Earl Mead, The Lively Experiment (New York: Harper and Row,
ent cultural challenges.
1963).
44
State to perpetuate itself, the Church used the awakenings

to fill its pews. In the process, it developed a peculiarly
American structure, the denomination, to organize and
affect it mission, relying on revivalism to stir people to
commitment.
The Calvinists were the first to give evidence of the
impact of this shift. The early Calvinists arrived with vivid
memories of the Synod of Dort in 1618-19, which had
been convened in the Netherlands to deal with Arminianism, a movement that emphasized the role of the human
will in conversion. The new American situation, promoting free association as a basis for membership, shifted
the emphasis back in the direction that Dort had just
repudiated. Free assent, a decision for Jesus, became the
hallmark of awakened faith. Calvinists broke into conflict,
the Old Lights seeking to maintain historic characteristics
of their faith; the New Lights, favoring the methods of the
awakenings, sought to give more credit to the will.
Lutheran immigrants faced the same challenge that the
Calvinists had encountered before them, the forces of the
American melting pot. It is a loose sociological structure
developed over the years to temper ethnic, political and
theological differences among the new arrivals, mitigating
potential conflicts by softening the edges, moving traditions toward a more acceptable middle. Doctrines such as
predestination and the bondage of the will, for example,
have sharp theological elbows, generating conflicts with
a religiosity shaped by free association. The real presence
of Christ in the Sacrament was also found provocative.
The corrosive forces of the melting pot cooked down the
differences. So Lutherans who had adapted to American
public life, such as Samuel Simon Schmucker of Gettysburg Seminary, proposed what he termed an American
Lutheranism, shorn of the offensive doctrines, more
amenable to the Methodism that had come to dominate
nineteenth century American religious life. Schmuckers
proposal, in fact, recognized what was already happening
in the congregations. Lutheran identity was being displaced by American identity.
Another problem the immigrants faced was linguistic.
Arriving in the new land, they generally settled among
those who shared their language. In these linguistic communities, as small as neighborhoods in the larger cities,
but among Lutherans more commonly rural villages
and towns, the settlers attempted to replicate what they
had known at home. Often they were poor and underprivileged, migrating in hopes of economic and social
improvements. But as the immigration grew, whole vil-
lages left Germany and the Scandinavian counties seeking

new opportunities. Sometimes, like the Saxon migration
to Missouri, they brought their pastors with them; commonly the immigrants came first and then began seeking
Lutheran pastors who could serve them.
As they settled, the immigrants recoiled against the
denatured or neutered American Lutheranism proposed
by Schmucker and earlier settlers. There were some old
Lutheran holdouts who had held the confessions dear. But
as the nineteenth century moved into its second third, the
immigrants arrived from Lutheran churches in the old
countries that had recently become more aware of their
confessional heritage. The Prussian Union, remembered
in the United States as the evil Prussian Union, had contributed to a confessional revival, particularly in Germany
but with influence in Norway and other Scandinavian
nations. The immigration that produced The Lutheran
ChurchMissouri Synod came out of these sources.
They arrived hoping to find a place where they could be
Lutherans in America, maintaining their heritage intact.
From the beginning of large-scale immigration, the
Lutheran Confessions had a critically important function
for new American Lutherans. There were confessionally
committed Lutherans left in America from earlier immigrations. For example, the Tennessee Synod was born
fighting the acculturation of the North Carolina Synod.
David Henkel, one of its founders, worked with his brothers to publish the first American edition of the Book of
Concord. But the recently arrived immigrants turned the
tide against acculturation, at least for the time being. In
addition to the Small Catechism, they commonly arrived
with three books in hand, the Bible, the Concordia and
a hymnal, all in their mother tongue. Sometimes, commonly enough, they also brought copies of Luthers
Galatians Commentary. They were determined to keep
the faith they had brought with them.
Because they spoke the language of the nations they
had left behind, the newly settled Americans drew their
scholarly resources from Germany and the Scandinavian
countries. Using such sources, the immigrant churches
produced a rich deposit of confessional studies. C. F. W.
Walther led the way, particularly with his lectures on Law
and Gospel. Charles Porterfield Krauth in Pennsylvania took up the matter of confessional authority. Others,
such as Matthias Loy in Ohio, wrote extended studies on
individual confessions. Later generations continued the
work. George J. Fritschels study of the Formula of Concord, produced in Dubuque, Iowa, still sets a benchmark
45
as does J. Michael Reus study of the catechisms.

these publications to the Luther readers, remembering
For the immigrant churches, the language transition individuals and small groups in Scandinavia who learned
began where it usually does among arriving language to know Luther through his published sermons, clearly
groups, between the original generation, eager to preserve hoping people would follow their precedent on the Amercontact with what had been left behind, and their chil- ican side of the Atlantic.
dren, equally eager to speak the languages of schools and
A more systematic approach to Luther translation was
playgrounds. The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod had undertaken in Pennsylvania by pastors and professors
a resource to deploy in this conflict: the parochial schools. whose families remembered Charles Porterfield Krauth
Even into the l960s, long after English had become the and the earlier American Lutheran controversy with
language of the Church, Missouris educational system Schmucker. His legacy was concentrated at what is now
was strongly Germanic.
the Lutheran School of Theology in Philadelphia. Charles
But the Scandinavians werent always so careful. As M. Jacobs gathered a small group of translators who protheir children became more and more at home in English, vided six volumes worth of Luthers occasional writings,
they gradually pushed a transition to English for the now remembered as the Philadelphia Edition. Many of
family, the school and the church. Still, it took a long these translations were carried over, with some revision,
time. In 1949, King Haakon of Norway traveled from the into the American Edition of Luthers Works, now the
eastern to the western border of North Dakota, stopping main source of Luthers works in English.
at virtually every crossing to greet Norwegian AmeriThe American Edition, originally 55 volumes now
cans who had supported Norway
being supplemented with further
during World War II. Those who
translations, was developed coopCan the LCMS
traveled with him reported hearing
eratively by publishers that had
exercise
the
theological
virtually every dialect of Norwegian
previously been active in bringing
leadership that
from the people who came to greet
Lutheran books to English speakthe king. But within a year, in 1950,
ers. One was Concordia Publishing
Lutherans in America
Norwegian as a public language
House in St. Louis it published
and across the globe so
had virtually disappeared in public
the first 30 volumes, devoted to
desperately need?
circles. Fresh memories of the war
Luthers exegetical work, including
made Yankees of every stripe hostile
the Genesis, Psalms and Galatians
to Germanic sounding languages.
commentaries. Fortress Press, originally Muhlenberg and
the heir to the Philadelphia Edition, published volumes
Luther comes to North America
3155, Luthers occasional and polemical writings, includNorth American Luther research began with the language ing the Bondage of the Will. Helmut Lehman, originally
transition, as originally European Lutherans translated to from the Canadian prairies in Saskatchewan, finished a
help their children and grandchildren face the pressures doctorate at Erlangen in 1939. He was one of the general
of the theological melting pot. There were remaining editors along with Jaroslav Pelikan, a student of Wilhelm
instances of purely Germanic scholarship. When it was Paucks who after early prominence in the field, left Luther
published in St. Louis, Johann Georg Walchs edition of scholarship and eventually left the Lutheran Church for
Luthers works made them widely available in America in Eastern Orthodoxy.
the original languages for the first time.
In addition to his work with the American Edition,
The first priority for American Luther scholarship was Helmut Lehmann led the way in commissioning transtranslating Luther into English. Originally, it was not an lations of German and Scandinavian Luther scholarship,
organized process, but hit or miss, with individuals or publishing a significant number of important texts in
small groups of individuals publishing various volumes. Philadelphia, at what was then Muhlenberg Press. Paul
Matthias Loy published a translation of one of Luthers Athaus Theology of Martin Luther and Lennart Pinomaas
postils in 1869. J.N. Lenker, associated with a group called Faith Victorious became particularly important. They
Luther in All Lands, translated others of the postils, were joined by works of Gerhard Ebeling, Regin Prenter
publishing them as Luthers Sermons on the Gospels and Gustaf Wingren. Following in the same tradition,
and Luthers Sermons on the Epistles. He dedicated Augsburg Fortress Press succeeding out of Muhlenberg
46
and then Fortress Press in 1999 published Bernhard

Lohses masterful introduction to Luther studies, Martin
Luthers Theology: Its Historic and Systematic Development. Though some of the earlier publications were
published jointly with SCM and other English publishers, using translators from England, there were enough
of the Scandinavian language speakers left into the 1960s
and 1970s to find American translators. So J.M Jensen, a
Danish immigrant who served in both Canada and the
United States, translated Prenter; a Finnish American,
Walter J. Kokkenen, translated Pinomaa.
When common usage of languages spoken in Europe
by Lutherans begin to die off in America, in the aftermath
of World War II, American Lutheran seminaries continued to produce people capable of reading Luthers Latin
and German. Commonly, these scholars did their graduates studies in Germany or Scandinavia and kept up
close relationships with their teachers and other scholars
with whom they had studied. The faculty at Erlangen welcomed a number of American candidates. Paul Althaus,
Werner Elert and Herman Sasse, who eventually immigrated to Australia, all maintained strong influence in the
United States. Sasse was closely interested in Lutheranism in America and kept up an extensive correspondence
with, among others, Herman Preus at Luther Seminary in
St. Paul, Minnesota. But he left his legacy primarily in the
LCMS, with faculty members and now the president of
the church.
Edgar M. Carlson, the long time president of Gustavus
Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, led the way in
bringing Swedish Luther research to American students.
The son of Swedish immigrants to Wisconsin, he grew
up speaking his mother tongue. Though he did his academic degree in Chicago, he used his familys language to
become closely familiar with the work of the theologians
at Lund, in Sweden, where Anders Nygren, Gustaf Aulen
and Ragnar Bring had established one of the centers of
Luther research. Carlsons book, Luther Reinterpreted,
opened up the scholarly connections that gave Gustaf
Wingren and his Danish co-worker Regin Prenter strong
influence with an emerging generation of American
Lutheran theologians.
The International Luther Congresses, meeting every
five or six years in Europe as well as occasionally, the
United States, has fostered direct working relationships
between European and American Luther scholars. One
of the congresses met at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis;
later, one assembled at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. In the
1960s, the congresses welcomed American Roman Catholic scholars, such as Jared Wicks and Harry McSorley, a
close associate of Heinz Otto Pesch, who led the way in
Germany.
Several German Luther scholars immigrated to the
United States, leaving a rich legacy of doctoral students
to carry on the research. Wilhelm Pauck was perhaps the
most influential. Born in Westphalia, trained by Karl Holl
and Ernst Troeltsch at Berlin, Pauck began his teaching
career in Chicago, but served on several other faculties,
most notably Union Seminary in New York. There he
became doctor father to a number of important American
Luther scholars, such as Pelikan, Lewis Spitz, Hans Hillerbrand and William G. Lazareth, who worked in Luthers
ethics. George Wolfgang Forell, originally from Breslau,
spent his academic life at the University of Iowa. He made
a deep impression at a Luther Congress in Erfurt, before
the fall of the wall that separated Germany, setting out the
freedom of the Gospel. Heiko Oberman left the Netherlands to teach at Harvard University in the 1960s. When
he left Harvard for Tbingen, several of his doctoral
students became prominent in American Luther studies, including Scott Hendrix of Princeton and Kenneth
Hagen, who taught at Marquette in Milwaukie, Wisconsin. Oberman returned to the United States toward the
end of his vocation, teaching in Tucson, Arizona, where
his wife enjoyed better health. Gerhard Forde, who did
his doctoral work at Harvard, has sometimes been associated with Oberman but didnt actually study with him.
He was more closely related to scholarship from Lund,
Gustaf Wingren and Lauri Haikola originally, and in his
later years, Leif Grane at Copenhagen.
In recent years, the most influential German Luther
scholar in America has been Oswald Bayer, now retired
from the Tbingen faculty. Fordes students, such as
Steven Paulson of the Luther faculty in St. Paul and Mark
Mattes of Grandview College in Des Moines, Iowa, have
been particularly drawn to him.
There were several fine Luther scholars identified
with the LCMS, particularly Lewis Spitz, who came from
one of the outstanding families of Synod. He taught at
Stanford, where he served as doctor father to a number
of other American Lutheran scholars, including James
Kittelson, who finished his career teaching at Luther Seminary in St Paul, and Robert Rosin at Concordia, St. Louis.
In more recent years, Robert Kolb has through extensive
publications been a leader in American Luther scholarship. Kolb has also been very interested in Melanchthon
47
research, working with Timothy Wengert, a student of Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are no longer proFordes who taught at the Lutheran School of Theology in ductive. There the forces of acculturation are particularly
Philadelphia. Kolb and Wengert together led the team of evident. Confessional course work has been significantly
translators who produced a recent, authoritative transla- reduced, pushed to the margins or eliminated; where
tion of the Book of Concord. The faculty at Concordia, Luther scholarship survives, it is in heavy contention. As
Fort Wayne, has also included some
a recent survey of American Luther
fine Luther scholars, including Naostudies demonstrates, the primary
michi Masaki and John Pless.
remaining interest is not so much
Can [the LCMS] be
Arthur Carl Piepkorn of the ConLuther and his theology but what
faithful
to
both
its
own
cordia faculty in St. Louis was also
might be called clientele studies,
theological heritage and 2Luthers possible implications for
identified with Luther studies. But he
the cultures in which is
made a sharp distinction between the
the particular group with whom the
theology of the Lutheran Confessions,
scholar identifies, such as feminists
serves without falling
which he taught as authoritative,
or gay liberationists. Some scholarly
into a separatism that
and the theology of Luther, which
disciplines may be still evident in
would
isolate
it?
Can
it
he treated more distantly. He was
these studies, some insight might be
actually be close without gained, but the value of such studies
also strongly committed to liturgical
becoming closed?
reform. Consequently, his legacy has
for the Church or the community
appeared more in ecumenical work,
outside of the selected target group
particularly in relation to Catholiis an open question. Using Luther
cism. Ecumenical scholars, such as George Lindbeck of studies as a indicator, the decline of much of American
Yale, Robert W. Jenson, now retired and living in Prince- Lutheranism is indisputable.
ton, New Jersey, and Carl Braaten, also retired and living
in Arizona, have taken an approach to Luther something Assessing the decline
like Piepkorns, de-emphasizing his theological contri- Working through the history of American Lutheranbutions to stress ecumenical reconciliation. Jenson and ism, two different approaches to the relationship of the
Braaten have been particularly interested in the work of Church and culture can be distinguished. They may be
Tuomo Mannerma, who carried on Pinomaas legacy at more differences of degree than of substance; American
Lutherans, like their European forebears, share a generthe University of Helsinki. Mannerma died this spring.
In recent years, American Luther scholarship has ally positive view of the culture, valuing images of critical
fallen on difficult times. The generation that mediated the participation in public life. Still, American Lutherans have
findings of Luther scholars in Germany and Scandinavia, differed on the particulars. One tradition has maintained
who led the way with their own research, has by and large a more critical distance from the culture, seeking to predied or gone into retirement. There are still some strong serve its theological heritage over and against forces that
scholars scattered among various seminary and college might dilute it; the other has sought more convergence
faculties. Their work can be found in such publications as between its heritage and the culture, welcoming a more
the Lutheran Quarterly and the Luther Digest, an Annual open-ended conversation.
The outlines of the division between these two
Abridgement of Luther Studies. But the prestigious
approaches
already emerged in the Predestination ConAmerican universities whose graduate schools were so
important to developing the next generations of Lutheran troversy, dating back to the late nineteenth century. The
seminary faculties have by and large pushed theological Prussian Union, enforcing Calvinism in self-consciously
education into the sidelights, dropping or marginalizing Lutheran communities in Germany, had produced more
Luther studies along the way. Denominational seminaries, skepticism about public culture among the Saxon immiaccording to authoritative surveys, have in recent years grants that, with some few others, made up The Lutheran
suffered dramatic enrollment losses; with rare exception ChurchMissouri Synod. Their deeper loyalties to the
the schools are virtually all in financial crisis.
While LCMS faculties have continued to produce 2
Christine Helmer, The American Luther, Dialog 47:2 (Summer,
graduate students, the seminaries of the Evangelical 2008).
48
Formula of Concord with its doctrine of predestination in Article XI clashed with American assertions
of free will, reinforcing cultural suspicions. Carefully
preserving their own distinctiveness, the Missourians
joined with the Wisconsin Synod and a smaller group of
Norwegians loyal to Formula of Concord X to form the
Synodical Conference. These churches did not merge,
among themselves or with others, but set in place mechanisms to prevent dilution of their witness.
C. F. W. Walthers careful exposition of the doctrine of
predestination set off a storm of controversy among the
Norwegian immigrant churches in the late nineteenth
century. Philippist advisors to the Danish king in the
sixteenth century had sabotaged his subscription to the
Formula; consequently, it had less practical value among
the Norwegians and Danes who immigrated. Other
German speaking churches more adapted to American
visions of personal freedom joined in the opposition to
Walther and the predestinarians. Significantly, one of
the Norwegian synods called itself the Anti-Missourian
Brotherhood.
Among the churches that opposed the conference on
predestination, a century of mergers began. At first, they
took place along ethnic lines in 1917, for instance, the
three Norwegian church bodies merged to form the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America, agreeing to disagree
on predestination. Mergers across ethnic lines followed
among several others. The United Lutheran Church, for
example, brought together Germans and Swedes. Finally,
in 1989, invoking images familiar from European folk
church Lutheranism, the one great merger long hoped for
took place in the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America. The merging churches spoke the folk
church language of inclusiveness in its American political
form and immediately set in a place a system of quotas
which sought to give all and sundry opportunities for full
participation in its governance.
The coercive forces of the American melting pot
have proven their power on both sides of the divide over
approaches to public culture. To begin with, the numbers
are down across the boards. In the past decade, Missouri
is said to have lost a half million members, down to 2.2
million, percentage-wise a loss almost as large as that in
the ELCA. With greater numbers at its origin, roughly
some five and a half million, the ELCA has had the greater
numerical losses. Attrition and departures induced by
church conflicts have combined to reduce the membership to about three and a half million. By one reliable
report, church officials in the headquarters at Chicago

recently discussed the possibility of ELCA membership
bottoming out at about a million.
Further, evidence of theological acculturation has
also accumulated on both sides of the historic division.
The LCMS went through a period in the late 1950s and
196os when in one apt description, it was not sufficiently
Missouri. The faculty at Concordia in St. Louis spoke the
language of the Church in public, but in the classroom
taught practices perceived as undermining it. When Missouri drifted, the Synodical Conference broke apart, the
Wisconsin Synod and the ELS going their separate ways.
The remainders of the St. Louis faculty that turned up on
the doorstep of the ELCA turned out as problematic there
as they had been in the LCMS. As much as the self-styled
exiles despised J.A.O. Preus, in the end they proved
his point.
The prominence of the church growth movement in
Missouri points in the same direction. When institutional
growth claims pre-eminence over the Churchs heritage,
free will theologies multiply and the Church declines, even
if it succeeds enough to be able to rejoice in its crowds.
The melting pot does not respect synod boundaries.
Valuing openness and the rhetoric of tolerance, the
ELCA has had a substantially greater problem theologically. The trouble appeared before the church began.
A well-placed feminist on the Committee for a New
Lutheran Church, which negotiated the merger, argued
that the doctrine of the Trinity is inherently sexist and
brought it up for a vote. Reportedly, for all of the ecumenical significance of the doctrine of the Trinity, it barely
survived.
One of the commonly argued grounds for the merger
was that the combined numbers would give Lutherans
more influence in public life and culture. The size of the
church lost some of its magic when church officials, setting up offices in that city, discovered that it was about the
same size as the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago. But
there were still any number of advocates eager to capture
the perceived influence for their ends. Ecumenists took
the first swing at it, urging Roman Catholic consensus
against prized characteristics of the Lutheran heritage.
But there were more troublesome issues to come. Social
advocates, who commonly devalued the churchs theological heritage in favor of claims to peace and justice,
joined forces to push the gay agenda. Church officials lent
a hand, changing the rules, until finally in 2009 a national
church assembly ratified the ordination of practicing
49
homosexuals. Bishops quickly assured congregations that

they were not compelled to comply in their parishes. But
the die was cast.
The ecumenical consequences of the 2009 vote have
unfolded slowly, with only occasional drama. Clearly,
however, the ELCA and with it the Lutheran World
Federation, have broken out of a prevailing standard on
sexual practice that has held since the days of the New
Testament, isolating themselves from the formal policies
of both Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity,
together the overwhelming majority of the worlds Christians. The decision has also led to a break with national
churches in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world that
continue to hold with the authority of the biblical Word.
Not surprisingly, American church officials have invoked
a variety of cultural images familiar from the melting pot
to support its decisions the myth of progress, advances
in human knowledge, the cultural relativism of the Scriptures themselves, and so forth. To no ones great surprise,
these appeals have been joined with naked power plays
involving western funds. Imperialism can take several
identities.
Thus the first quarter century of the ELCAs history
presses a question. In all the talk of openness and tolerance that it has generated, welcoming everyone, can this
church so called by its own officials tolerate the
tradition that historically brought it into being? Can it
accept itself? Is there any room within it? in its offices,
on its faculties, in its parishes for those who identify
themselves biblically with Luther and the confessions?
In fact, there are significant numbers of pastors and congregations remaining within the ELCA tucked away in
pockets where they can maintain traditional loyalties. But
the continuing decline of Lutheran seminary faculties, the
election of successive presiding bishops with little or no
formal theological education in either the Confessions or
Luther, combined with the similarly declining quality of
synod bishops, all come together to render doubtful the
survival of such pockets for long. Consequently, some
four hundred congregations have left the ELCA to form
the North American Lutheran Church; more than double
that number have affiliated with Lutheran Congregations
in Mission for Christ. Enthusiastically in and also of the
world, the ELCA appears to be salt that has lost its sting.
While both the ELCA and the LCMS have had their
troubles with the coercive forces of the American melting
pot, Missouri has in a couple of instances demonstrated its
capacity to regenerate its tradition. Each of them has been
50
controversial, bringing complaints with the accolades.

When Jacob A. O. Preus, who took some considerable
pride in his Norwegian heritage, took over as president
of the Missouri Synod in the late 1960s, he brought the
forces of the melting pot down upon himself and his
alliance. Vituperated by his opponents within the Synod
and the public press alike, he was described as a fundamentalist bent on enforcing an antique form of Lutheran
orthodoxy far out of touch with contemporary life. In
fact, Jack as he was commonly called was like his
brother, Robert, deeply anchored in the theology that
marked Missouri in its origins. Well after his critics lost
interest, he was still busy rebuilding the Concordia, St.
Louis faculty and the Church. Though the controversy
remains, he has been vindicated historically. His opponents, who left the Synod posturing as harbingers of a
new order, proved as divisive in their new home. Missouri
recovered its balance.
Matthew Harrison, who has led a second recovery as
the current president of the LCMS, has attracted the same
kind of criticism. Opponents within the Synod and outside of it have portrayed his administration pejoratively as
power driven and exclusive. But like Preus, Harrison has
been shaped theologically by the forces that have moved
Missouri throughout its history. Herman Sasse, whose
three volumes of letters to American church leaders,
edited by Harrison, were distributed to participants, was
an extraordinarily perceptive observer of the American
church at the same time that he was a closely disciplined
theologian. While serving on the faculty at Erlangen,
he recognized the threat of Nazism as early as 1934, far
before others. From his later position in Adelaide, he
served the proclamation of the Gospel in Australia by his
teaching and in the United States with his letters. Harrisons use of Sasse lays the groundwork for a creative
engagement between the Churchs theological heritage
and the cultures in which it serves.
To be sure, there are elements within the LCMS that
show evidence of enclosure. The ELCAs problem has
been its left wing; Missouris challenge has come from its
right, which pounces on suggestions of variance as proof
positive of corruption, to be dealt with coercively, with tar
and feathers. It is as though the Eighth Commandment
has been suspended for theological discussion. The outsider becomes an enemy to be overcome rather than a
neighbor to be engaged.
Thus there are questions that remain. Given the course
of the ELCA, can the LCMS exercise the theological lead-
ership that Lutherans in America and across the globe

so desperately need? Can it be faithful to both its own
theological heritage and the cultures in which is serves
without falling into a separatism that would isolate it?
Can it actually be close without becoming closed? Can
it maintain sound doctrine without falling into a doctrinalism in which the doctrine displaces Christ Jesus as the
agent of justification?
These are challenging questions. This conference, like
its predecessor a few years ago in Atlanta, provides evidence that they can all be answered positively. Carrying
on from here is the mission to which all of us, from the
corners of the earth, are called.
The Rev. James Arne Nestigen is professor emeritus of
Church History at Luther Seminary.
51
The Lutheran Reformations

Continuing Importance for the
Church Today: Celebrating the
Reformation Rightly Repentance
An African Perspective
Does the theology of the Lutheran

Church today still differ from all
other churches theologies because
she is the Church of the pure Word
and unadulterated Sacraments? Has
the Lutheran Church today ignored
her symbols, or does she hold fast
to them as a norm and standard
of her entire life? These and other
questions will lay the foundation
upon which we shall evaluate our
missionary methods in the twentyfirst century, particularly in Africa.
by Joseph Ochola Omolo
Introduction
he Lutheran Reformation that took place in text, African context in this particular case, the following
the sixteenth century remains relevant for the questions will direct our presentation: (1) Does the theolmission of the Church of Christ in all decades due ogy of the Lutheran Church today still differ from all other
to its clear articulations of the Christian doctrines. By and churches theologies because she is the Church of the
large, God used His servant Martin
pure Word and unadulterated SacraLuther to correct the abuses that had
ments? (2) Has the Lutheran Church
invaded the Roman Catholic Church
today ignored her symbols, or does
Without Luthers
during medieval period. Unlike
she hold fast to them as a norm and
Reformation, there
other earlier reformation attempts,
standard of her entire life? (3) Is the
would have been no
Dr. Luthers Reformation was unique
Lutheran Church as represented in
clear articulation of
in that it was more concerned with
this conference, prepared to repent of
salvation,
for
the
Gospel
the doctrine of the Church rather than
her failure to adhere faithfully to the
with the moral life of the individuals.
pure Gospel and all of its articles and
would have remained
Although Luther sought to also
to return both to confess faithfully
largely hidden.
reform various abuses of morals in
and to continue in study of this conthe Roman Catholic Church, at the
fessional treasure bequeathed to us?
heart of his work Luther became more articulate with These and other questions will lay the foundation upon
sound biblical teaching. During a discussion in one his which we shall evaluate our missionary methods in the
table talks, Dr. Luther asserted:
twenty-first century, particularly in Africa.
Doctrine and life are to be distinguished. Life is as
1: The African concept of sin in relation to Lutherbad among us as among the papists. Hence we do
an Reformation theology for the mission of the
not fight and damn them because of their bad lives.
Church in Africa in the twenty-first century
Wyclif and Hus, who fought over the moral quality
Does the Lutheran Church today still differ from all other
of life, failed to understand this When the Word
churches because she is the church of the pure Word and
of God, remains pure, even if the quality of life fails
unadulterated Sacraments? Positively put, this question
us, life is placed in a position to be what it ought
rightly presupposes that at her inception the Lutheran
to be. That is why everything hinges on the purity
Church differed with other churches due to her clear
of the Word. I have succeeded only if I have taught
articulations of the pure Word and unadulterated Sacracorrectly.1
Looking into our theme for this conference, and ments. In terms of doctrine and practice, apparently the
attempting to bring the Lutheran theology into the con- Lutheran Church stands unique due to her proper doctrinal expressions. In other words, right theology leads to
right missiology. But, the big question for us here in this
1 WA TR 1:624; LW 54:110. Quoted by Dr. Richard P. Bucher: http://
conference is this: Has the Lutheran Church, the Church
www.orlutheran.com/html/whatwas.html,
52
of pure Gospel and unadulterated Sacraments, lived up to

the expectations of her Confessions?
The Lutheran Confessions stipulate that Dr. Luthers
conviction was rightly guided by Gods relationship to his
creation especially how a righteous God could relate to
and save a sinful human being. That struggle led Martin
Luther to discover the main teaching of Gods Word
that man is declared righteous (justified) by faith in the
cross of Jesus Christ. Luther discovered that it is not
human righteousness (human works, efforts or obeying
Gods laws) that saves him. Rather it is Christs righteousness that saves; for God is pleased only with Christ, His
Son (Matt. 3:17). At the heart of Luthers Reformation
was the rediscovery of the Gospel that saves a poor miserable sinner. This Gospel is stocked in the Scripture, for
it is only this Gospel that can reform the Church. Does
Lutheran Reformation theology continue to be important
and relevant for the mission of the Church today, especially when we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation in
the twenty-first century? How would an African understand that God is righteous and that the human being is
sinful and thus needs salvation? In other words, how does
an African understand sin? What is sin and what are the
causes and the consequences of sin to the individual or a
society at large?
Sin, justification and reconciliation in the African

context: Are they just words?
By and large, Lutheran Reformation theology still differs with other churches and offers a unique approach to
missiology due to its clear and accurate articulation of
biblical doctrine, especially the doctrine of justification.
The doctrine of justification cannot properly be conceived
without proper understanding of the nature of God and
the essence of sin when dealing with the relationship
between God and man. This is why it is necessary to
briefly present the traditional African concept of sin as a
base for contextual reflection before briefly highlighting
Luthers teaching on justification from an anthropological
perspective.
Sin in the African context

Comparatively, the study of sin as a doctrine in African
Traditional Religion (ATR) has not been undertaken
extensively. As observed by Awolalu, it is justifiable that
ATR scholars have not systematically done a thorough
study on the subject of sin.2 Awolalu points out that sin

(as a subject) has been briefly referred to in various literature, suggesting that these few references may easily
mislead researchers to biased conclusions, particularly
while comparing the biblical and the African traditional
religious concepts of sin.3
In 1964, Sawyerr made a great contribution to African
religious studies by publishing an article on the African
traditional concept of sin and forgiveness.4 Interestingly,
Sawyerrs research lead him to conclude that hardly ever
is there a single term for sin in African languages that
would correspond exactly to the biblical concept of sin.
This makes it hard to draw any general conclusions when
it comes to the point of comparing the Jewish and African
concepts of sin.5 How does ATR describe sin?
A renowned ATR scholar, John Mbiti, has developed a
profound and clear definition and concept of sin, expanding its essence and aspect to embrace its determinative,
cosmological function and its relational aspect within
the ATR society.6 He points out that the concept of sin in
African society guides and controls individuals to comply
and maintain their positions. According to Mbiti, sin is
determined by any behavior that goes against the rules
laid down by a community. The behavioral rules guide
how people in a society relate to one another and keep
their positional boundaries. In a communal society, life is
in order when everyone knows and controls their positions properly and respectively.7 What then is sin in ATR
society?
2
Omosade J. Awolalu, Sin and its Removal in African Traditional

Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 44: 2 (2001):
275287.
3
Ibid., 276. Apart from the inspired Word of God (the Old Testament
which God gave to the Jews), it is undeniable that the Jews of the first
century A.D. shared some aspects of worldview with followers of
ATR (i.e., honor and shame cultural components). Nevertheless, it is
overstating to strongly conclude, as Awolalu does, that Africans are as
conscious of sin as the Jews of the Old Testament (Awolalu, Sin and
its Removal). Such a statement gives the implication that ATR has a
special revelation like that of the Old Testament (OT). The OT account
is unique and cannot be compared with any worldly religious beliefs,
for it is a special revelation from God. What some comparative religious
scholars fail to notice is the nature of a Jew living at the time of the OT
as an ordinary human being, who apart from the OT Scriptures is just
an ordinary religious person. The OT is a forensic revelation from God
to the Jews with a special purpose salvation.
Harry Sawyerr, Sin and Forgiveness in Africa, Frontier 7 (September
1964): 6063.
4
5
See: John Mbiti, Peace and Reconciliation, 1632; and Awolalu, Sin
and its Removal, 276278.
John Mbiti, African Concept of Sin, Frontier 7 (August 1964):
182184.
6
7
Ibid.
53
Awolalu defines the ATRs concept of sin in relation spiritual status, making him unclean and thus unacceptto the existence of man in a society. He expresses that, able within the society not only among the living, but
according to African mentality, man is the center of cre- also in the world of spirits.10 This is the real state of shame.
ation, standing between the deities and the society, and Shame torments a person and makes a person worthless
is created for the purpose of maintaining the moral stan- a state that is equivalent to death. It is in this status that
dards of the society. Awolalu remarks:
an individual or group needs ritualistic cleansing. In ATR,
In African communities, there are sanctions
ritualistic cleansing deals with sin and provides a remedy
recognized as the approved standard of social and
for the polluted person. How does ATR deal with sin and
religious conduct on the part of the individual in
its effects?
the society and of the community as a whole. A
In the African community, sin is explained as the cause
breach of, or failure to adhere to the sanctions is sin
of evil in a society. This causes people to engage in hatred,
and this incurs the displeasure of the deity and his
quarrels, fighting, illness and war in a society. In some
functionaries. Sin is, therefore, doing that which is
circumstances, sin will manifest itself through sickness,
contrary to the will of the directions of the deity. It
psychological disturbances or other forms of misfortune.
includes any immoral behavior, ritual mistakes, any
This causes people to begin tracing the effect of sin back
offences against god or man, breach of covenant,
to its cause so that they may deal with it. The cause might
breaking of taboos and doing anything regarded as
be attributed either to witchcraft or to a breach of behavabominable and polluting . To
ior (e.g., breaking a taboo, ignoring
disregard god, the divinities and
a totem, etc). In order to treat such
the ancestral spirits is to commit
a person, an intermediary is needed,
When we celebrate
sin. Likewise to disregard the
who not only intercedes for the
the Reformation, we
norms and taboos of the society is
transgressor but also performs the
are celebrating this
to commit sin.8
rituals necessary for the treatment.
rediscovery of the
This explains why mission to Africa
Traditionally, people believe that
Gospel that we believe,
should take very seriously the study
ancestral spirits control the moral
of the concept and the act of reconteach and confess; we
standards or codes as they guide
ciliation when dealing with the issue
are celebrating our
the community. To rebel against
of contextualization in African conthe laws guiding moral standards
salvation by grace
text.
in a community is to rebel against
through faith in Jesus
the community, which is comprised

Luthers anthropological aspect
Christ, our Lord.
of the living individuals, the dead
in the doctrine of justification/
ancestors and those who are yet to be
reconciliation
born. Such rebellion causes sin and is
While for Luther, the doctrine of justification is
severely punishable.
theocentric and Christocentric, there is in and
In an African society, people explain a crisis that within this doctrine an anthropological aspect. The
befalls an individual or a group in relation to an act that anthropological nature of Luthers theology of justification
was committed or omitted. It is generally maintained that is found in his famous expression simul iustus et peccator
nothing bad befalls a person without a cause and effect. (simultaneously righteous and sinful). This wonderful
Awolalu observes that the sin committed destroys rela- and unique description of a Christian explains the truth in
tionships not only within the society, but also between god humanity. According to this expression, the righteousness
and man, and between man and spirits.9 When sin occurs a person has after being justified is not his or her own,
among the people, it takes away honor and brings dis- but the righteousness of Christ. This eventually provides
grace and shame. Sin committed contaminates, pollutes the basis for forensic justification or external justification.
and brings fear and shame to the person who commits it. In other words, while the justified sinner receives the
Evans-Pritchard contends that sin in a man changes his righteousness of God from outside, namely from Christ,
8
Awolalu, Sin and its Removal, 279.
Ibid.
54
10
Evans-Pritchard in Awolalu, Sin and its Removal, 279.
this person at the same time remains a human being as

was created a sinner. The person is, in the real sense,
righteous and at the same time a sinner. That is why
a Christian needs the preaching of Law and Gospel. In
the state of simul iustus et peccator, the justified sinful
person enjoys the ultimate relationship with God, while
at the same time the justified person is a sinner who
needs the forgiveness of his sins. In this state, a justified
person enjoys a personal relationship with the triune God
who forgives and justifies for the sake of Christ. He is
not only a forgiven sinner, but also has been made heir
to that which God has prepared for His beloved children
in heaven. The work done by justification is more evident
in the Lutheran teaching of simul iustus et peccator.
This is unique in the Lutheran theology, and this is why
Lutheran theology differs from other
theologies.
Justification and reconciliation:

Are they just words?
is possible because justification has taken place.12 While

the two terminologies (words) are not one and the same
(contextually), they are connected and intertwined as far
as their base, foundation and effect are concerned. They
are not just words! They are legalities of Gods action to
his beloved creation. The problem is that when one hears
the word reconciliation, what comes quickly into ones
mind is the man-to-man relationship. Overduin is correct
in remarking:
One of the major problems for us Christians is the
understanding of the meaning of the doctrine of
reconciliation. Human relationships have become
almost all important at the expense of mans
relationship with his God . Reconciliation in terms
of humanistic thinking leaves no room for Luthers
homo theologicus.13
In the state of simul

iustus et peccator, the
justified sinful person
enjoys the ultimate
relationship with God,
while at the same time
the justified person is a
sinner who needs the
forgiveness of his sins.
In this state, a justified
person enjoys a personal
relationship with the
triune God who forgives
and justifies for the sake
of Christ.
Although the Reformers and the

Lutheran Confessions employ the
terms reconciliation and justification
interchangeably, these terms actually
portray differing contextual realities.
That is, justification portrays a legal
context in which punishment due a
sinner is dealt with and forgiven, and
the culprit is pronounced innocent
because another person has suffered
the penalty. On the other hand, reconciliation is connected more to the
relational context, whereby a ritualistic sacrifice is offered and sins are
forgiven. Now the person/people
happily live together, eat together
and drink together as they live a new life. In the relational
state, the warring individuals start a new life together,
eating together, sharing the gift of life together.11 These
people, therefore, become members of one household
the communion of saints. This is what happens when a
Christian is baptized and given a new life to begin feeding
at the Lords Table.
Having said this, it has to be made clear here that there
is no reconciliation without justification. Reconciliation
In Luthers theology, mans relationship is based on that which

God has established in justification
through the death of his Son on the
cross. The Lutheran theology of reconciliation therefore grounds human
relationships on the work of God,
which then explains human relational responsibility in society. God
has established it, has given it to His
people and has commissioned them
to take and proclaim it to others
for the sake of their relationship
with Him and with their neighbor.
Luthers theology of justification/
reconciliation stands in contrast to
the medieval theology of merit. He
felt that the theology of merit robs
God of His honor and gives it to the
human being. This is exactly what is embedded in the
ATRs concept and ritualistic practice of sin.
The Lutheran Church is the church of the pure

Word and unadulterated Sacraments.
Back to our initial question in this section: Does the
Lutheran Church today still differ from all other churches
because she is the Church of the pure Word and unadulterated Sacraments? This is a question of great necessity
12
For more information of just words, see Jacob A. O. Preus, Just

Words: Understanding the Fullness of the Gospel (St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 2000), 137143.
11
Schlink, Theology of the Lutheran Confessions, 83.
13
Daniel A. Overduin, Reconciliation: Proclamation of New Reality,

in Theologia Crucis, ed. Henry P. Hamann (Adelaide, Australia:
Lutheran Publishing House, 1975), 121.
55
and demands a strict accounting. As the Lutheran Church not want to call sin by its name, in Africa and other parts
has come to the beginning of the twenty-first century, we of the world, some people and religious groups would
see especially in Europe and North America a liberaliz- want to deal with sin in a more traditional way to avoid
ing tendency, as the desire to be a player on the stage of the grips and real essence of sin and its consequences in
global Christianity often moves the Church to positions human lives.
that just a decade or two ago would have been unthinkWhat shall we say to our own age and our culture?
able. Now the unthinkable and unbiblical has become Many do not care about the true Gospel at all; many even
commonplace. Even within the more orthodox churches in the churches represented here may look only to their
in America and Europe, there is an ongoing struggle to own rewards or the rewards of men. Sad to say, many
remain faithful. One brief example will suffice. Here is a in developing nations relying on the support of Western
direct quotation from our brother in Christ, Rev. Dr. Mat- nations quite often find themselves in such a confessional
thew Harrison, the president (bishop) of The Lutheran dilemma. Even among Lutherans who desire to be faithChurchMissouri Synod. His words offer clarity in this ful, the temptation to compromise just a little on biblical
dilemma without getting into personalities:
teachings so that the funding continues to flow is at the
When a public teacher on the
least challenging, and at the worst
roster (means a public teacher
apostasy. I remember that the archTime and again, in the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
of the Church) of Synod (The
mission of the apostles,
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)
Church in Kenya, Dr. Walter Obare,
can without consequence publicly
was expelled from the Lutheran
godless culture was
advocate the ordination of
World Federations (LWF) countransformed by the
women (even participate vested
cil as its theological advisor simply
good
news
that
God
in the installation of an ELCA
because he did not accept comprojustifies the ungodly by
clergy person), homosexuality,
mising the Gospel so that his church
His
grace
alone
through
the errancy of the Bible, the
body could get and enjoy privileges
historical-critical method, open
from the LWF. For the developing
faith alone for the sake
communion, communion with
nations, standing strong against
of the atonement of
the Reformed, evolution, and
Western churches abuses comes
Christ
alone.
more, then the public confession
with some consequences. Praise be
of the Synod is meaningless. I am
to God if some younger churches
saying that if my Synod does not change its inability
from the developing countries would be estranged due to
to call such a person to repentance and remove such
their doctrinal stand! That is what Lutheranism means;
a teacher where there is no repentance, then we are
we can then sing with Luther in his wonderful hymn of
liars and our confession is meaningless. I do not want
The Mighty Fortress.
to belong to such a synod, much less lead it. I have
2: Theology in context
no intention of walking away from my vocation. I
Has the Lutheran Church today ignored her symbols, or
shall rather use it and, by the grace of God, use all the
does she hold fast to them as a norm and standard of her
energy I have to call this Synod to fidelity to correct
entire life? This question is equally important, especially
this situation.14
Satan, of course, will use every tool to lead the Church when we prepare to celebrate the five hundred years since
to ruin. He has and will continue to attack the Church Lutheran Reformation took place. When we talk about
that confesses the Gospel in its truth and purity. This was Reformation theology for todays Churchs mission, we
true in the time of Elijah in the Old Testament, in the time intrinsically and or extrinsically talk about the Lutheran
of Paul and the apostles in the New Testament and in the Confessions relevance to us today, particularly in Africa.
times of Luther, and still is true in our day as well. While The development of diverse theologies, so to speak, in the
in many parts of Europe and America some people would twenty- first century is coupled with a lot of challenging
ideologies and practices, both locally and internationally,
14 Witness, Mercy, Life Together. http://wmltblog.org/. Italicized
that need to critically be examined.
bracketed terms are offered for clarification and are not part of the
In the African context, the challenge begins with the
original text.
56
enculturation of the Roman Catholic Church as a mission

paradigm; it then moves to the health and wealth theology of the Pentecostal churches as a missionary model
on the one hand. On the other hand we find the sporadic
syncretistic teachings of sects and cults in the African Initiated Churches (AICs). Still another big challenge, which
cannot be left unchallenged, is the influence of Islam. All
of these religious groups pose a real and great challenge
to Christianity in Africa, despite the fact that Christianity is rapidly growing in the southern part of the world.
Before getting back to our question in this section, let me
briefly present some of these religious groups which not
only cause serious challenges to African Christianity, but
also seriously jeopardize the future
of Christianity in Africa.
lated individuals, but to people for whom culture is part

of the human phenomenon. With this kind of evangelistic model in practice, the Roman Catholics view culture as
the starting point from which the effective evangelization
starts. While they have the Text (Scripture), the Context
(Culture) becomes the starting point in which culture
(the context) dialogues with the text of Scripture. In such
a scenario, both the text and the context stay at the same
level while doing evangelism, as neither judges the other.
This becomes the cause of syncretism.
Sects and cults
In Africa today, the spread of sects and cults is alarming.

With the expansion of Mormons,
Jehovahs Witnesses, Legio Maria,
When we are turned
Akorino 16and other religious groups,
15
Inculturation theology and
by our gracious God
such movements are increasingly
theological education
gaining strongholds across many
to repentance for our
With Africas long history and
parts in Africa. Many reasons can be
failures to adhere
acquaintance with the traditional
given as to how and why these sects/
faithfully and confess the cults emerge. While some may split
religiosities, Africans are open and
pure Gospel and all its
ready to receive the Gospel. It is
because they lack some fulfilment
claimed that Roman Catholics have
articles, then God will
on their spiritual needs, as Ogutu17
been very successful in many parts
observes, others may opt to start
continue to shower His
of Africa due to their ritualistic type
their churches after being disciplined
mercy and grace upon
of worship and their teachings on the
or defrocked by their mainline
such repentant sinners.
doctrine of saints. As indicated in the
churches. Still others will split due
first section of this paper, the ritualto leadership struggles. Oddly
istic practices and worship and the doctrine of ancestral/ enough, the majority of those leading sects/cults in Africa
saints have several affinities with the African religio-cul- have very limited theological education. Several African
tural rituals, coupled with the veneration of ancestors in self-proclaimed prophets mingle elements of Christianthe African traditional religious beliefs and rituals.
ity with African Traditional religiosities and claim the
While Protestants have used the term contextualiza- leadership of these sects. Disappointingly enough, such
tion as a model for bringing theology into the context, prophets gather significant number of followers whom
the Roman Catholics have opted to use the term encultur- they mislead. Because of their lack of proper theological
ation/acculturation for the same. For the Roman Catholic, education is coupled with distorted Christian ethics, their
enculturation/inculturation is the logical consequence of teachings are misleading others more dangerous
effective evangelization. They strongly maintain that [t] even to the point of misleading their followers willingly to
he Good News of Jesus Christ is not addressed to the iso16
15 The
term inculturation was first coined by Joseph Masson in

1962. It was used by Pedro Arrupe during the 1977 Synod of Roman
Catholic Bishops and was the subject of a letter which he addressed to
the Society of Jesus in 1978. It was first adopted officially by John Paul
II in the synodal document Catechesi Tradendae of 1979, and has since
entered into theological currency. It is a term popular with African
Christian theologians who see African Theology as the foremost
instance of inculturation and a means to combat cultural alienation in
the African Church. African Traditional Religion and Inculturation,
written and posted by Aylward Shorter in http://www.crvp.org/book/
Series02/II-10/CH2.htm.
Although many AIC accept the use of modern medicines, schools,

education and even modern technology, the Akorino Church and
other AICs preach against such things. While some of these sects/cults
originate in Africa, others come from outside, namely Europe, America
and Asia.
17
Theres a feeling of being shut out in the mainstream church,

says Ogutu Agnes Masitsa, who attended a Catholic Church before
she moved to Nairobi in 1988. One Kenyan movement, called Thaai,
preaches a back to Africa idea that aims to keep white ideas out
of Africa. Christianity has never helped us or our countrymen, says
Maina Karanja, a 77-year-old doctor. All that it has done is taken our
culture backwards. Posted by MSNBC News, March 28, 2000, by Stefan
Lovgren (Cult Education Institutte).
57
take death as part of their commitment to their religion.

Stefan Lovgren observes:
Hundreds of members of the small sect, The
Movement of the Restoration of the Ten
Commandments of God, including 78 children, died
in a fire in a church in Kanungu, 220 miles southwest
of the capital, Kampala . Two cult leaders, Joseph
Kibwetere, a defrocked Catholic priest, and Cledonia
Mwerinde, a former prostitute, may have fled before
the fire as the cult grew increasingly divided after
the world did not end Dec. 31, as church leaders had
predicted.18
Healing rituals form the major part of the spiritual
life of many sects/cults. Scholars have pointed out some
similarities between the African traditional healing
system19 and the healing practiced by many African Initiated Churches (AIC).20 The so-called healing ministry
attracts many people, especially in the developing countries because of the economic difficulties and widespread
health problems. In the AICs, fighting demonic spirits
is a common phenomenon; the worship is not complete
until the demon is exorcised. This type of spiritual
warfare worship grounds its power around a self-proclaimed prophet or the sects or cults leader. In times of
crisis (deaths, burial rituals, prolonged diseases, disasters caused by natural calamities, etc.) people, even the
so called Christians, would go to such prophets/leaders
seeking answers, prayers or healing, etc., from them.
The Lutheran mission in Africa should not underrate such sects and or cultic movements. How should
the Lutheran Church in Africa seriously address such
situations? To the African Church leaders and seminary
professors gathered here today, what steps are we collectively or individually taking to address such challenges?
Three or four years ago, I remember we had a provocative
conference in Ghana where we discussed some of such
challenges. A follow up meeting is needed again and the
papers presented should be published and some of those
papers used in our seminaries.
18
Ibid.
John V. Taylor, The Primal Vision (Elva, Scotland: Robert Canigham

& Sons Ltd., 1963). According to Taylor, classroom religion refers to
the practice by which religious belief is only practiced in the church or
within the bounds of the missionarys reach.
19
Bengt Sundkler, Christian Ministry in Africa (London: SCM Press,

1960), 14. Anssi Simojoki, The Ministry of the Church and the Call
of Mission: Africa Reflection, in The Office of the Ministry, ed. John R.
Fehrmann and Daniel Preus (Crestwood, MO: Luther Academy, 1996).
20
58
Islam
As it was during the sixteenth century Reformation
period, the spread of Islam is perhaps the most serious
threat in Africa today. All of Northern Africa, West Africa,
Central Africa and the East Coast of Africa have been
dominated by Muslims. Where Muslims dominate, violence becomes the order of the day. In Kenya today some
Christian pastors have been ruthlessly killed, churches
burned down and all sorts of violence experienced. The
most threatening situation is that Muslims are moving
even to the inter-lands in East Africa, building mosques
and schools and offering scholarships as they gain more
converts. At the same time Muslim merchants are financing huge projects, as many of the petrol stations owned by
Muslims all across Africa. Pastor Richard Bucher rightly
observes: It is most alarming to see Muslim missionaries intentionally at work in Africa, building mosques in
remote villages and openly proselytizing in public places.
How can the Lutheran mission in Africa challenge the
spread of Islam in Africa? How do we incorporate such
challenges into our seminary programs? As seminary
leaders and church leaders, how do we continue equipping parish pastors, evangelists and deaconesses, even the
Church elders and Christians at large, in the local congregations, on how to deal with such challenges?
3: The Lutheran Church is a catechetical church.

As confessional Lutherans, it is time to go back to our
Confessions to collectively and individually start thinking
and acting rightly. It is so disappointing to see some major
church bodies, Christian organizations and some wealthy
individuals, etc., seriously working so hard to convince
younger growing churches to accept the ordination of
women; others are working hard to spread lies about
some younger church leadership, thinking that they have
right answers for such churches, thinking that they must
teach those churches how to lead their churches rightly.
Sadly enough, other major churches in the West, church
institutions and some individual congregations work so
hard with their monies, sponsoring individual splinter
groups, empowering them to split the churches in Africa.
In reality the Christian Church needs to concentrate on
the Great Commission, walking with each other towards
maintaining our treasured heritage by evangelizing the
un-evangelized and pastoring the established churches.
Evidently the Lutheran Confessions are rich enough
to enrich and equip confessional Lutheran churches in
Africa to deal with all such challenging religious groups
in proper catechetical classes. Properly speaking, Islam is

not a peaceful religion as the Muslims themselves tend to
sometimes claim. Their target is to conquer all of Africa,
if not the whole world, at this decade.
In doing Lutheran Missiology in Africa in the
twenty-first century, one needs to take seriously into
consideration the functional cultural elements in that
particular culture. However, in this process, the confessional Lutheran mission has to carefully guard itself
against what Gene Veith calls, a merely cultural religion, that which has been fueled by accomodationists,
synthesists and separatists, who tend to down-play
the transcendental aspect of religion at the expense of
divinizing culture.21 In other words, what is needed is not
acculturation/enculturation, or health and wealth promises or contextual accomodationism models, but a true
preaching of the Law and Gospel, coupled with proper
administration of unadulterated Sacraments of our Lord
Jesus Christ. For where the Gospel of Christ is taught in
its truth and purity, and people are rooted and grounded
in Christ, there the saints grow in the culture of Christs
love and render services of mercy to their neighbors.
This actually happened in the pagan cultures of Greece
and Rome of the early Church, as well as to the nomism
of Saul of Tarsus and to those who had perverted the
promise of the Old Testament and made of it a means for
self-justification before God.
Time and again, in the mission of the apostles, godless
culture was transformed not by cultural accommodation, or inculturational practices or promising a utopian
world, a world free of problems of health and wealth
but by the good news that God justifies the ungodly by
His grace alone through faith alone for the sake of the
atonement of Christ alone.
Is the Lutheran Church still a catechetical church

as Luther intended it to be?
When looking closely at our second question, I am much
reminded that in many ways we are living in a time that
the Church has seen before. Many a time Lutherans may
give the appearance of a great lake. Not only are Lutheran
Christians beset by corruption imposed upon them
such as has been seen in the pollution of the Kavirondo
Gulf near my home in Kisumu at Lake Victoria, but the
Confessing Church often times is ignorant of her own
confession. I am reasonably certain that your experience
In Angus J. L. Menuge, ed. Christ and Culture in Dialogue (St. Louis:
Concordia Academic Press, 1999), 18.
21
with seminary students mirrors my own, in that students

come to the seminary ignorant of the laymens Bible,
Luthers Small Catechism. The rich and deep well that is
the Lutheran Confession is often abandoned for more
modern theological faiths (pop theologies) that appear
wide and vast but are, in reality, only an inch deep. Such
shallow faith cannot sustain in times of crisis or temptation, nor answer the questions posed by this age. Is this
because we have ignored our Confessional heritage?
Perhaps we are in a period of time not unlike 1525
1527, when Martin Luther and others were involved in
parish visitations. Listen again to Dr. Luther:
The deplorable, miserable condition that I discovered
recently when I, too, was a visitor, has forced and
urged me to prepare this catechism, or Christian
doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. 2Mercy!
Dear God, what great misery I beheld! The common
person, especially in the villages, has no knowledge
whatever of Christian doctrine. And unfortunately,
many pastors are completely unable and unqualified
to teach. 3This is so much so, that one is ashamed to
speak of it. Yet, everyone says that they are Christians,
have been baptized, and receive the holy Sacraments,
even though they cannot even recite the Lords Prayer
or the Creed or the Ten Commandments.22
It is time to ask serious questions of all Lutheran
teachers and Lutheran pastors in Africa: Have we been
faithful from the smallest parish through to seminary
training and beyond? Have the leaders of the Lutheran
Church faithfully carried out their vocations to supervise
the teaching of those whom they oversee? Or has it been
just too easy to go along to get along? After all, no one
wants to be a leader of a declining church.
Today we are reminded that the confessing Church is
always the repenting Church and the catechetical Church.
For where there is repentance, there is forgiveness, and
where there is forgiveness administered and admonished
through the Holy Sacraments, the gates of heaven are
opened. Such a Church continues in a catechetical ocean.
That is the confessing Lutheran Church we seek to have in
Africa, especially in this twenty-first century.
Is the Lutheran Church, as represented in this conference, prepared this day to repent of her failures to adhere
faithfully to the pure Gospel and all its articles, and to
return both to confess faithfully and continue steadfastly
P. T. McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis:
Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 313.
22
59
in study of this Confession a treasure bequeathed to

us? When we are turned by our gracious God to repentance for our failures to adhere faithfully and confess the
pure Gospel and all its articles, then God will continue to
shower His mercy and grace upon such repentant sinners.
Only in the certainty of His mercy and grace toward sinners alone, can you place your hope, your faith and your
confidence toward the future. Such Spirit-created faith in
the pure Gospel and the blessed Sacraments will move
each of us to proclaim Christ joyfully. Such faith in Christ
will move repentant sinners to confess Christ joyfully. The
pure Gospel will create and sustain such faith that joyfully continues to encourage the teachers of this faith to
be again and again grounded in this apostolic and confessional treasure we call the Lutheran Confessions.
This pure Gospel will enlighten pastors and teachers
of the faith to catechize the Church in this Gospel teaching that is so clearly given to the Church in the Small
Catechism of Dr. Luther. Then faithfully armed with the
Gospel rightly taught and confessed, the Lutheran Church
will, by the grace of God alone, continue to nurture the
faith of the next generation. When the confessing Church
is firmly grounded in the pure Gospel, the Sacraments
will be administered in a manner that is in harmony with
that Gospel.
Finally, in response to the theme of this conference
and the theme of this day, namely, Repentance, allow me
to conclude with this extensive quote from G. Friedrich
Bente, in his preface to The Concordia Triglotta, first published almost one hundred years ago, in 1921:
The Lutheran Church differs from all other churches
in being essentially the Church of the pure Word and
unadulterated Sacraments. Not the great number
of her adherents, not her organizations, not her
charitable and other institutions, not her beautiful
customs and liturgical forms, and so forth, but the
precious truths confessed by her symbols in perfect
agreement with the Holy Scriptures constitute the
true beauty and rich treasures of our Church, as well
as the never-failing source of her vitality and power.
Wherever the Lutheran Church ignored her symbols
or rejected all or some of them, there she always fell
an easy prey to her enemies. But wherever she held
fast to her God-given crown, esteemed and studied
her Confessions, and actually made them a norm
and standard of her entire life and practice, there the
Lutheran Church flourished and confounded all her
enemies.
60
Accordingly, if Lutherans truly love their Church,

and desire and seek her welfare, they must be faithful
to her Confessions and constantly be on their guard
lest anyone rob her of her treasure.23
This quotation speaks to all Lutherans who without
reservation continue to stand in the teaching of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions in our day and in
whatever culture, continent or clime they may belong. It is
so evident that the Lutheran Reformation, and in particular the Lutheran Confessions, remain relevant at all times
to all cultures, challenging all that the changing cultures
or any religious ideology or practice may bring forth.
Without Luthers Reformation, there would have been no
clear articulation of salvation, for the Gospel would have
remained largely hidden. When we celebrate the Reformation, we are celebrating this rediscovery of the Gospel
that we believe, teach and confess; we are celebrating our
salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is why we confidently speak of the relevance of the
Lutheran Reformation, even in Africa today.
The Right Reverend Joseph Ochola Omolo is rector of
Neema Lutheran College and bishop of Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Kenya, Lake Diocese.
References Consulted and Cited

Awolalu, Omosade J. Sin and its Removal in African Traditional Religion. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 44: 2 (2001): 275287.
Barrett, David. Schism and Renewal in Africa: An Analysis
of Six Thousand Contemporary Religious Movements (Nairobi, Kenya: Oxford University Press, 1968).
Mbiti, John. Peace and Reconciliation in African
Religion and Christianity, Dialogue & Alliance 7 (Spring
Summer 1993):1732.
________. Hearts Cannot be Lent: In Search of Peace
and Reconciliation in African Traditional Society, Princeton Seminary Bulletin 20:1 (1999):112.
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, xxiiixxiv. Such is the object

also of this Jubilee Edition, the Triglot Concordia (Triglot is to be
understood as three languages: German, Latin and English). F. Bente
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., July 4, 1921.
23
McCain, P. T., ed. (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.
Menuge, Angus J. L., ed. Christ and Culture in Dialogue.
St. Louis: Concordia Academic Press, 1999.
Omolo, Joseph Ochola. Reconciliation in an African
Contex. Nairobi: Uzima Publishing House, 2008.
________. Suffering, Persecution and Martyrdom as a
Mark of the Church: How Has This Affected Theological
Education? A Practical Perspective from Africa. Journal
of Lutheran Mission (Sept. 30, 2014).
Osborne, Kenan. Reconciliation and Justification: The Sacrament and its Theology. New York: Paulist Press, 1990.
Preus, Jacob A. O. Just Words: Understanding the Fullness
of the Gospel. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House,
2000.
Sawyerr, Harry. Sin and Forgiveness in Africa, Frontier 7
(September 1964):6063
Shorter, Aylward. African Traditional Religion and
Inculturation. Athttp://www.crvp.org/book/Series02/
II-10/CH2.htm
Simojoki, Anssi. The Ministry of the Church and the
Call of Mission: Africa Reflection. The Office of the Ministry. ed. John R. Fehrmann and Daniel Preus. Crestwood,
MO: Luther Academy, 1996.
Simojoki, Annsi. The Other Gospel of Neo-Pentecostalism in East Africa. Concordia Theological Quarterly 66:3.
(2002): 269.
Sundkler, Bengt. Christian Ministry in Africa. London:
SCM Press, 1960.
Sundkler, Bengt. Christian Ministry in Africa. London:
SCM Press, 1960.
Taylor, V. John. The Primal Vision. Elva, Scotland: Robert
Canigham & Sons Ltd., 1963.
Witness, Mercy, Life Together. http://wmltblog.org/.
61
How is the Lutheran Church
The Reformation and Asia:

Another Battleground of
Confession and Liturgy
in Tanzania recognizing and

rejoicing in the Reformation?
by Naomichi Masaki
The minority Lutherans
utherans do not usually think of Asia when gelistic work is not given to us to control. It belongs to the
they think of world Lutheranism. Nowadays, they promise of the Lord and not to human calculations. We
perhaps begin to think of Africa or perhaps even dont instruct the Lord to do what, when and how, as if He
of South America. For instance, a scholarly society, such needed from us some latest mission paradigms, programs
as the International Congress on Luther Research, went and strategies. Our Lord justifies sinners when and where
to the Southern Hemisphere, Porto Alegre in Brazil, for it pleases Him in those who hear the Gospel (AC V). It
the first time in 2012. The Ethiopian
is all His doing from the beginning
and Tanzanian Lutheran Churches
to the end. Therefore, freed from
We recognize that the
are fast growing. Wonderful things
having to worry about the desired
confession and liturgy
are happening in Russia and in
outcomes, we are given to consider
are the battleground for
Latin America. In Scandinavia, the
whether we have been faithful to the
the Lutheran churches
faithful remnants of Lutherans are
Lord and whether or not we want the
in
Asia
as
well.
If
the
daily and heroically battling the good
Reformation to impact Asia today.
fight of the faith. But what about
Reformation makes an
The challenging environment
Lutheranism in Asia? We dont hear
impact on Lutheranism
Before we proceed further, let us
very much about it.
in Asia, it should be
identify a few more facts about
The fact is, Lutherans in Asia
found
in
preaching
and
Lutheranism in Asia. First, we
struggle. The Christian population
need to be aware that the Lutheran
in the Sacraments.
in general is very small there, and the
churches in Asia are relatively young.
Lutherans make up only a tiny bit of
that minority. For example, my home country, Japan, is Although some Lutheran congregations existed in the
only less than 1 percent Christian, and the membership early eighteenth century in India, and several others in the
of all Lutheran church bodies there is only about 30,000; nineteenth century in Japan and arguably in Indonesia,
that is, 3 percent of that 1 percent. I was born and raised the majority of the Lutheran churches in Asia started in
in Japan. I was baptized as an infant through a Norwe- the twentieth century, particularly after the war. Second,
gian missionary. My parents had been converted from what is most striking about Asia is that the minority of
Buddhism by that time, and from all other traditional Christians are surrounded by tremendous religious plu1
religions. I know that all the missionaries I knew had ralism. In India, 2.5 percent of the people are Christians;
been hard workers. Japanese pastors, too, together with 78 percent are Hindus and 15 percent are Muslims (2011
the members of their congregations, have been witness- census). In Japan, there are 3,000 religions and over
ing to the Lord with all of their strengths and with all of 20,000 idols that are regularly worshipped. Out of its poptheir talents. I know that we need to recognize them with ulation of about 120 million, roughly 80 million belong
deepest gratitude for all of their truly dedicated and self- to Buddhism, another 80 million belong to Shintoism,
less services. And yet the Lutheran churches in Asia are
not numerically growing as they are in Africa. Why? I 1
Vtor Westhelle, Saint, Servant, Prophet: A Theological Reflection
dont know. And Im not, of course, in a position to pro- on the Church in Asia, in Between Vision and Reality: Lutheran
vide any humble suggestions for church growth. We know Churches in Transition, Lutheran World Federation Documentation
No. 47, ed. Wolfgang Greive (Geneva, Switzerland: The Lutheran World
from the Scripture that the result of missionary and evan- Federation, 2001), 66.
62
and all of them belong to Confucianism. It is not uncom- way to explain this is the fact of particular Asian context.
mon in Japan for a single person to hold more than one Because the dominant religious and cultural forces are so
religion. Third, while Asia as a whole is rapidly changing enormously strong, and because the Christian churches
with its modernization of industry and technology, every are in such a minority, Christians feel a closer bond to one
part of Asia still firmly retains its long and deep-rooted another, not only within various Lutheran church bodies
traditions with cultural specificities and characteristics.2
but also across all Christian denominations. The confesUnder such circumstances, ecclesiastically speak- sional difference among the Christians is viewed as rather
ing, that is, in doctrine and practice, churches in Asia, trivial compared to the more gigantic common enemies.
including the Lutheran churches, are found in a situation Many Asian Christians feel that a divided Christianity
not unlike one in nineteenth century Germany under can only send a negative message to the non-Christians.
the Prussian Union. There is general religious tolerance 4Obviously, this is something which commonly takes
among the churches. The confessional differences have place in every foreign mission field.5 But what is unique
been diminished or even ignored. Pulpit exchanges are about Asia is the overwhelming diversity of religions
observed across denominations. Open Communion and world views, the historical deep-seated-ness of local
is a common practice almost everywhere. Lay church cultural traditions, and the emotional character of spirworkers who have been trained by
ituality that dismisses rationalistic
non-Lutheran institutions are regthinking. After all, what the Westularly welcomed into Lutheran
ern societies have come to know as
Without evangelical
congregations without question. Penpost-modernism with its accents of
Lutheran
chorales,
it
tecostalism is strong, and it is often
ambiguity, healing, taste, progress
is impossible to have a
accompanied with many church
and choice, has existed in Asian soil
growth techniques. Liturgy is weak,
for centuries. Many religions in Asia
confessional Lutheran
so is Lutheran hymnody. Concerning
aim at empowering your own heart
Church. Liturgy and
the Office of the Holy Ministry, sadly,
and letting you feel a god within
hymnody, as well as
most Lutheran churches are either
you.6
catechism, play a big
in favor of the ordination of women
Another way of explaining the
role in the life of the
or have it in place. Also, Lutheran
situation in Asia is that the antagoseminaries which actually teach the
nism against the paternalism and the
Lutheran Church.
Lutheran Confessions are nearly
colonialism of the missionaries still
absent. An old Enlightenment motif,
hasnt disappeared.7 In many Asian
that each denomination complements the others so as to countries, poverty, violence, war, racism, sexism, ecomake one harmonious Christian Church, is prevailing. nomic and political oppression, etc., are still real issues.
It seems that the ecumenical slogan from the Lutheran The missionaries have also helped with those problems.
World Federation, From Conflict to Communion, is the But as the national churches grew stronger, they became
general direction of the Lutheranism in Asia. The visible tired of being treated as small children. Precisely in order
unity of the churches is desired and pursued.3
to react against the paternalism and colonialism of the
western mission societies, Henry Venn (17961873), the
Sociological explanations
head of the Anglican Church Missionary Society, and
Why do the Lutherans in Asia look this way? Why isnt
there a distinct Lutheran character there overall? One 4 Yoshiro Ishida, Asia, in Church in Fellowship, vol. 2: Pulpit and Altar
Fellowship among Lutheran Minority and Younger Churches, eds. Paul. E.
Hoffman and Harding Meyer (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1969), 40.
Yoshikazu Tokuzen, Lutheran Identity and Communion in the

Multicultural Context of Asia, in Heinrich Holze ed., The Church
as Communion: Lutheran Contributions to Ecclesiology, LWF
Documentation No. 42, 1997 (Geneva: The Lutheran World Federation,
1997), 400.
Ibid., 404405. See also From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran
Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017, Report
of the LutheranRoman Catholic Commission on Unity (Leipzig:
Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013).
3
E. J. Bergt, InterLutheran Seminaries, in AllAsia Conference

on Theological Training, ed. Herman H. Koppelmann (St. Louis: The
Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod, 1964), 71.
5
Naomichi Masaki, The Quest for Experiencing the Divine: the Rise
and effect of Eastern Religions, For the Life of the World 11 (January
2007): 810.
7
Hermann Sasse, The Lutheran Church and World Mission, trans.

Andrew Smith, in Letters to Lutheran Pastors, volume 2, ed. Matthew C.
Harrison (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014), 319.
63
Rufus Anderson (17961880), the head of the American pastors who received an advanced theological education
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, devel- in the West brought back with them what they learned
oped the so-called three-self formula. There are several there and introduced it to the home country by renaming
implications of the adoption of this model to consider. it to suit their own culture. In other words, the theological
First, a critique of old mission strategies ran together with vacuum that had been created by the disengagement of
a challenge against the confessional approach to mis- the mother churches was filled only by ecumenical relasions at the same time. James Scherer, then the Dean of tionships and organizations.11
School of Missions of the Lutheran School of Theology
in Chicago, reported that in 1961 the East Asia Chris- Theological questions
tian Conference proceeded to attack the existence of While these socio-missiological concerns have a place in
world confessional bodies as detrimental to the interests our diagnosis, there is still another factor that explains the
of Asian churches. The very vitality of the confessional Asian situation of the Lutheran churches a theological
loyalties often creates serious obstacles in the life of the question. Here, Hermann Sasse is quite helpful to guide
younger churches because it reinforces patterns of our thinking. In his Worldwide Lutheranism on the Way
paternalism and continued exercise of control.8 Secondly, to Hanover, he observed that the Lutheran Church has
the principles of self-propagating, self-supporting and always struggled for self-understanding, that is, there
self-governing have led the mother churches of the West has always been disagreement inside of Lutheranism
to theologically disengage themselves from the young itself about what the Lutheran Church is. During the sixteenth century there was a struggle
churches. As a consequence, the
regarding Philippism. Then, synthree-self turned into the fourThe
Reformation
and
cretism followed in the seventeenth
self, as self-theologizing was added
century, unionism in the eighteenth
Asia there is much
into the mix. And thirdly, because
and nineteenth centuries, and ecuthis self-theologizing was based on
to rejoice in and praise.
the realization that theologies which
There is much to repent menism in the twentieth century.
At issue was always the question:
the young churches had received
about. And there is
To what extent do the rejection forfrom the missionaries were condimuch
to
look
forward
to.
mulas in the Augsburg Confession
tioned by the particular European
build an ecclesiastical boundary over
and North American development,
against other Protestant denominaa need was felt to devise indigenous
theologies. 9Japan needs to develop a Japanese theology tions? Sasse wrote:
The struggle in the 16th century ended with the
to make Christ more relevant, and so on. Ironically, howvictory of Gnesio Lutheranism in the Formula of
ever, in most cases such contextualized theologies were
Concord. In the 17th century, orthodoxy overcame
merely fancy names for the prevailing liberal theology of
syncretism, whose concerns were successfully taken
the West.10 In the place of traditional theologies, the Asian
up by Pietism. Unionism, rooted in Pietism and
8 James Scherer, The Confessions in the Younger Churches with
demanded by the Enlightenment, was still rejected
Particular Reference to the Problem of Christian Unity in Asia, in
at the beginning of the 18th century, but came into
The Church and the Confessions: The Role of the Confesions in the Life
power one hundred years later in large areas of
and Doctrine of the Lutheran Churches, eds. Vilmos Vajta and Hans
Weissgerber (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1963), 14950.
German Lutheranism. The reaction of the Lutheran
9 Bong Rin Ro and Ruth Eshenaur, Evangelical Declarations on
Awakening and the Lutheranism of the American
Contexualization, in The Bible and Theology in Asian Contexts: An
Midwest, which was bound up with this Awakening,
Evangelical Perspective on Asian Theology, eds. Bong Rin Ro and
Eshenaur (Taichung, Taiwan: Asia Theological Association, 1984),
327, Bon Rin Ro, Contexualization: Asian Theology, in The Bible
and Theology in Asian Contexts, 6377. Yoshikazu Tokuzen, Wither
Lutheranism?: An Asian Perspective, Word & World 11 (Summer
1991): 26568.
10
For example, the ThirdEye Theology of Choan Seng Song of Taiwan

who earned his Ph.D from Union Theological Seminary in New York
developed his theology partly on the basis of Zen Buddhism of Japan
and partly on the basis of liberation theology. Bishop K. H. Ting (or
Ding Guangxun), the theological pillar of the ThreeSelf Church in
64
China, developed his own theology on the basis of liberation theology,

process theology, and especially theology of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
The prosperity theology of David Yonggi Cho is rooted in the healing
revivals of the 1950s in America.
11
Darin Storkson, the regional director of Asia of the Office of

International Mission of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod,
recognizes this problem. I am indebted to him for his many helpful
observations of Asian Lutheranism.
enabled the existence of the Lutheran Church to

We continue to hold that the Lutheran Church is the
be rescued in those places in which it had not yet
Church of the Augsburg Confession, the Church of conbeen swallowed up by the union. But unionism,
cordia, the entire Book of Concord. This means that just
which in Germany came to the church, remained
as St. Paul wrote to Titus (1:9), if we want the churches
unconquered, inasmuch as no union was actually
in Asia to bear the name Lutheran, we are to be serious
reversed. Unionism allied itself with ecumenism,
about confessing Christ and His doctrine and rejectwhich was rooted in the 19th century (mission) and
ing false Christ and false doctrine.14 The history of the
in the 20th century organized itself powerfully. By
Church since the sixteenth century has indicated that
ecumenism we understand a certain perversion of
the battleground has always been the preaching and the
the Ecumenical Movement, which not only works
sacraments, the very means of grace through which the
toward a reordering of mutual relations of the
Augustana VII defined the Church.
Christian churches and toward their cooperation
In terms of preaching, we are reminded of the serwhile yet respecting the different
mons and orations by Luthers closest
confessions, but rather which
colleagues at his death in 1546. MelAsian Lutheranism
strives to ignore and remove
anchthon, Bugenhagen and Jonas
can
only
live
on
in
confessional differences, exactly as
all agreed to point out that Luthers
the company of true
unionism wants unification while
enduring legacy is to be found in
setting aside the question of truth,
the proper distinction between the
koinonia of the global
instead of the true union, which is
and the preachLutheranism, because we preaching of the Law
12
15
a unification in the truth.
ing of the Gospel. The papacy, the
need strong confessional enthusiasts, the sacramentarians,
Sasses observation here is very
bond with each other.
and antinomians all reduced the Law
weighty because he was not only
to a mere command, a rule, a system,
a mere observer of the ecumenical movement but was a participant and practitioner. If a structure; a neat little package that lacks the proper
there is a lack of Lutheran distinctiveness in Asia today, office of the Law to threaten and to kill. For this reason
it is because of the unresolved unionism which was only they understood neither sin nor Jesus the Savior.
The weakness of preaching diminishes the Lords
reinforced by the modern ecumenism. Simply put, Asian
Lutherans continue to be left within the ecclesiastical Supper. Sasse discussed that the changed attitude toward
environment where Reformed theology triumphs over the Sacrament was the deepest cause for the lack of
understanding of Lutheran identity, starting with the
Lutheran confessions.
Philippism, through pietism and rationalism, and all the
Asia as another battleground of confession and
way to unionism and ecumenism.16 The Lutherans batliturgy
tleground against unionism and false ecumenism is the
Such an observation with Sasse takes us back to our crit- doctrine of unio sacramentalis and genus maijestaticum
ical question: Do the Lutheran churches in Asia today (SD VII, SD VIII). When there is a hesitation to confess
really want to be confessional Lutheran churches? Do we unio sacramentalis, we are swallowed up by the Augustinwant the Reformation to impact in Asia? If the answer ian signum theory. Conversely, when the signum theory is
is in the affirmative, we must make sure that we have overcome, there was the Reformation.17
answered another more fundamental question: What is
the Lutheran Church? What does it mean when a church
is called Lutheran?13
12
Hermann Sasse, Worldwide Lutheranism on the Way to Hanover,

trans. Andrew Smith, in Letters to Lutheran Pastors, volume 1, ed.
Matthew C. Harrison (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2013),
41819.
13
Luther himself never approved his name to be attached to the

Church. WA 10/2: 39.2649; AE 36: 26566. Jesus atoned for the sin
of the whole world, and Luther didnt. Jesus preaches Law and Gospel,
while the office into which Luther was put merely served as a mouth
of Jesus. Jesus forgives sinners; Luther didnt. Jesus baptizes and

administers the sacrament. Again, Luther didnt. He simply rendered his
mouth and hands as the Lords instruments. Jesus builds His Church,
and Luther didnt. The Church is Christs and not Luthers.
14
Sasse, The Worldwide Lutheranism, 405.
15
See my Hearing the Voice of Jesus Together: LutherMemoria in His

Funeral Sermons and Luther on Law and Gospel in his Lectures on
Galatians 1531/35, both of which are scheduled to be published within
a year.
16
Sasse, The Worldwide Lutheranism, 419.
17
Oswald Bayer, trans. Thomas H. Trapp, Martin Luthers Theology: A
65
The consecrated bread that a pastor holds in his hands means that we recognize that the confession and liturgy
and puts on the lips of the communicants is the body of are the battleground for the Lutheran churches in Asia as
Christ. The consecrated cup that a pastor holds in his well. If the Reformation makes an impact on Lutheranhands and distributes to the communicants is the blood ism in Asia, it should be found in preaching and in the
of Christ. The Lords Supper is a particular location where Sacraments. Without evangelical Lutheran chorales, it is
Jesus seeks to find His people in order to comfort them. impossible to have a confessional Lutheran Church. LitIn Him the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). urgy and hymnody, as well as catechism, play a big role in
Apart from this man Jesus in His Body and Blood there the life of the Lutheran Church.
is no God. The Formula of ConThe Reformation and Asia
cord emphasizes that in this way,
there is much to rejoice in and
Lutherans struggle in
Jesus wants to be with us, dwell,
praise. There is much to repent
Asia.
They
are
a
minority
work and be effective in us in the
about. And there is much to look
in society. They are also
Lords Supper (SD VIII, 7679).
forward to. Asian Lutheranism
surrounded
by
incredibly
We are given no other God than
can only live on in the company of
Jesus who forgives our sin in the
true koinonia of the global Lutherstrong anti-Christian
externum verbum (AC V, SA III,
anism, because we need strong
religious and cultural
VIII). The Lords Supper is at the
confessional bond with each other.
forces.
Despite
these
center of the life of His Church.
Lutherans struggle in Asia. They
challenges, the Lords
Lutherans cannot live without it,
are a minority in society. They
promise
never
changes.
simply because the Holy Commuare also surrounded by incredibly
nion is the Gospel. Doctrine and
strong anti-Christian religious and
liturgy belong inseparably together. When the great mis- cultural forces. Despite these challenges, the Lords promsiologist, Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf of Blackmar mission ise never changes. Jesus will be with the Church today,
said: Lutherische Kirche treibt Lutherische Mission, or tomorrow and forever, precisely in the means of grace!
The Lutheran Church can only do Lutheran mission,
and Lutheran mission can be done only by a Lutheran
The Rev. Dr. Naomichi Masaki is associate professor of SysChurch, he meant that the Lutheran Church that results
tematic Theology and director of the S. T. M. program at
from the Lutheran mission is precisely the place where
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Jesus deals with us by preaching Law and Gospel and by
bestowing His body and blood for us to eat and to drink.18
The Lutheran Church is the means of grace church. The
Lutheran mission is the means of grace mission. Lutheran
pastors are the means of grace pastors.
What does this all mean for Asian Lutheranism? It
Contemporary Interpretation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 52.
Signum theory was prominent not only in sacramentarians of Luthers
life time, but also in the second sacramentarian controversy of the
Formula of Concord Era through the Consensus Tigrinus of 1549.
How this theory is useful to obscure what is concrete in doctrine is
demonstrated by Minna Hietamki in her ecumenical understanding of
church and ministry. Minna Hietamki, The Ecumenical relevance of
the Marks of the Church, in One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church:
Some Lutheran and Ecumenical Perspectives, LWF Studies 2009, ed.
HansPeter Grosshans (Geneva: The Lutheran World Federation, 2009),
4964.
Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf, Lutherische Kirche treibt Lutherische
Mission, in Lutherische Kirche Treibt Lutherische Mission: Festschrift
zum 75 jhringen Jubilum der Bleckmarer Mission, 1982, 14 Juni,
1967, ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf (Blackmar ber Soltau [Hannover]:
Mission EvangelischLutherischer Freikirchen, 1967), 1347. This essay
was recently translated by Rachel Mumme with Matthew C. Harrison
and published in Journal of Lutheran Mission (April 2015), 628.
18
66
How have the major Lutheran

churches in Europe defected from
the Lutheran Confessions? And
Europe: Defection from

the Confessional Base
and New Signs of Its Vitality
what does the future hold for

European Christianity at present?
by Darius Petkunas
urope differs from other continents in that introduced no novelties in doctrine or ceremony but had
it bears a very special relationship to the Lutheran steadfastly maintained the ancient faith, casting aside only
Reformation. It was in Europe that the Lutheran what had been introduced contrary to the Word of God.
Reformation was born, and it was from Europe that That a church is confessional is a clear statement that
it spread to other continents. However, the Lutheran the unity of that church is not built upon earthly orders,
Church in this continent is very different from the foundations and structures but upon the clear confession
Lutheran Church in the days of the Reformation. One may of the apostolic faith, as set down in accordance to words
in fact declare that modern Europe seems to have almost of the inspired prophets and apostles and Christ Himself
completely lost its connection with the Reformation. and set down in the Churchs Creeds and Confessions.
Europe has become secularized and
Accordingly, the Word of God
the Lutheran churches in Europe
is understood to be the definitive
As Richard John
have in general lost their connection
norm of all that is believed, taught
Neuhaus, a social critic
with the confessional treasures
and confessed in the Church (norma
once prominent within
they had been permitted to deliver
normans) and the Lutheran Confesthe
Lutheran
Church,
to so many generations. While the
sions are confessed to be the clear
churches still claim to hold to the
statement of that norm of faith,
wisely stated: Once
Scriptures and the central truths
confession and teaching (norma nororthodoxy is made
of the Reformation, the Lutheran
mata). The confession of the Church
optional, it is sooner or
Confessions no longer play any role
intends to articulate unchanging
later excluded.
as standard and norm of teaching and
truth. Although these Confessions
life in many of these churches. This
were articulated in particular times
defection has opened the door to all sorts of heterodoxy, and places, the Lutheran Church declares that its confesas is clearly observable today. It is the intention of this sional statements are neither time nor place conditioned.
address to delve into the question of how it has happened They are unchangeable and non-negotiable and in this
that the major Lutheran churches in Europe have the Lutheran Church differs from every other Protestant
defected from the classical Lutheran Confessions and Church. The Reformed and Anglican Churches also have
also to offer some observations concerning the present confessional documents, but they understand their ConEuropean situation, putting primary attention on the fessions to be time conditioned historical documents that
territorial churches (Landeskirchen) churches that have represent the position taken by the church at a particular
traditionally claimed an absolute majority of the people of time and in a particular situation.
the land as their members.
Throughout the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries,
Lutheran churches sought to remain united and firm in
1. Adherence to the confessional norms in the
their common faith, confession and teaching. They undersixteenth and seventeenth centuries
stood their Reformation truth to be firmly established and
Both in the preface to the Augsburg Confession and again on this basis it was possible for them to recognize each
in the words introducing the second part of that docu- other as sister churches and allow altar and pulpit fellowment, the confessors clearly stated that their churches had ship. There appears to have been no instances of closed
67
Communion between Lutheran churches, which would

bar faithful Lutherans from receiving the Sacrament from
Lutheran altars.
in Europe, the outcome of attempts by the government

in the closing decades of the eighteenth century to re-establish Lutheran confessional norms were unsuccessful.
The reaction against the censorship of religious literature
2. Defection from the norms in the eighteenth
was strong and the purging of the Lutheran faculties of
century
theology was derided as governmental oppression. Those
Clear defections from norms set by the Lutheran Confes- who implemented these programs were called Protessions became evident in the second half of the eighteenth tant inquisitors. Even the eminent Professor Immanuel
century with the rise of Enlightenment Rationalism. Kant came under close scrutiny when his fourth critique
Even though the Halle-type Pietism of August Hermann of reason, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, was
Francke had introduced new and strange teachings that published. He was officially reprimanded and chose to
separated regeneration from Holy Baptism a clear resign his position in the University of Knigsberg.
departure from the Churchs doctrinal norm the Pietists
Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III devised his own
still claimed to be adhering to the Lutheran Confessions. program to meet the challenge of Enlightenment RationalThe Rationalists who followed them could make no such ism. He planned to revitalize Christianity by introducing
claims. Their departures from the Churchs norms were new liturgies, the first of which appeared in 1816. He
both comprehensive and thoroughenvisioned the adoption of a united
going. They treated the Scriptures as
Agenda and liturgy in both Lutheran
Concerning the
human documents, questioned the
and Reformed Churches. To his
doctrinal norms derived from them
future of confessional
mind, the union of the Lutheran and
and introduced higher biblical critiReformed Churches and the adopLutheranism in Europe
cism in academic circles. Before the
tion of his Prussian Union liturgy
one cannot speak
end of the eighteenth century, many
were inseparably linked together. He
with certainty. It has
Lutheran ecclesiastical leaders and
thought that beautiful liturgy rather
known hard times, but
academicians in Europe had become
than the confessional norms would
adherents of the Enlightenment
it has never altogether
defeat Rationalism and revitalize
Rationalism and its dependence on
the church. The efforts of Wllner
disappeared.
human reason alone.
and his 1788 decree to restore conWeakened by Pietism and
fessional integrity were cast aside
deprived of its objective norms by Rationalism, the and replaced by the imposition of a Church Union
Church was not able to defend her doctrinal positions. inaugurated on the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran
In some Lutheran territories, it was from secular gov- Reformation in 1817.
ernments rather than church leaders that the strongest
reaction against Rationalism and heterodoxies were 3. The reemergence of confessionalism in
sounded. Examples of this include Wllners Edict of 1788 Germany
in Prussia and similar ukase issued in the Russian Empire Confessionalism, however, was not dead. In soon
by Tsar Alexander I in 1819.
reemerged primarily as a reaction against the Prussian
Only in Russia was the Church successfully returned Union and similar union efforts in other German lands.
to its scriptural and confessional norms. The tsar made Strong negative reactions to the Prussian Union appeared
it clear to the Lutherans in his empire that they were an first of all in Prussia itself under the leadership of Proimmigrant people, whose lawful existence as a church fessor Johann Gottfried Scheibel in the city of Breslau in
depended upon their faithful adherence to their Churchs Silesia. It was here that, for what appears to be the first
Confessions. As a result of his declaration, the faculty of time, the policy of closed Communion was introduced,
theology at the University of Dorpat was cleansed and its dividing Lutherans in the Union Church from Lutheran
liberal, rationalist professors were retired. Dorpat would confessionists who soon came to be called Old Luthersoon become the premier Lutheran confessional faculty ans. They understood that the Union Church had
in Europe. Critics refer to it as ultra-confessional.
separated itself from pure Lutheran doctrine, and this
In the Prussian Church, the largest Lutheran Church made fellowship together with it impossible. Henceforth,
68
Lutheran altars would be closed to members of the Union of the Prussian Union Church to make any clear and defiChurch. The Old Lutherans pledged themselves to remain nite statements in support of a literal acceptance of the
faithful to the Churchs Confessions even when faced with Apostles Creed in all its statements over against Adolf
imprisonment.
Harnacks vague interpretation of the creed and its signifiWithin the Union Church as well, some Lutherans cance for the Church. The ancient norms receded into the
came to a new appreciation of their confessional heri- background and the doors were opened to heterodoxy.
tage and initiated an attempt to re-establish the Lutheran In fact the heterodox now proudly proclaimed that they
Church as de jure church body in
were a group to be reckoned with in
Prussia. However, King Friedrich
the Prussian Church and should be
Wilhelm IV strictly forbid this, statregarded as a legitimate faction in
The Church is called
ing that it was not his intention to
the Church alongside the Lutherans
to
be
faithful
and
to
destroy his fathers Union. Lutheran
and the Reformed. The same tendenabide in hope. One
confessionalism survived in the
cies could also be seen to have been
Prussian Church only as an underat work in Scandinavia, the second
should recall that half a
current, in a Church which had
major Lutheran area in Europe. In
century ago it appeared
largely become estranged from its
fact, Lutheranism in Europe might
that the organized
confessional heritage. By the end of
well be termed German and ScanChristian
Church
the nineteenth century, however, this
dinavian Lutheranism, since it was
had been completely
confessional resurgence had almost
only in these regions that whole
completely dissipated.
eradicated in the Soviet local populations had accepted the
It is not clear to what extent conLutheran Reformation and territorial
Union, and the Soviets
fessionalism was able to re-establish
churches had been established.
declared that within a
itself in other Lutheran territorial
few decades Christianity 5. The struggle between Lutherchurches in Germany. One can speak
an conservativism and liberalwould be altogether a
with some certainty about the
ism in the twentieth century
Bavarian Church, which had earthing of the past. Today
Confessionalism was not sufficiently
lier established a union but soon
confessional Lutheran
strong to become a potent force in
rejected it on confessional grounds.
churches have rethe territorial churches in the twenThis Bavarian church became more
emerged
in
what
was
tieth century. Instead, Lutheran
than ever determined to adhere to its
formerly Soviet territory. territorial churches moved steadily
confessional position. It is also clear
into the camp of theological liberalthat the Hanoverian Church was able
ism. What tension has remained has
to maintain its confessional integrity.
To the chagrin of the king of Prussia, the Hanoverians been the tension between theological conservatives and
expressed no interest in joining the Prussian Union when liberals. However, theological conservativism has lacked
a single cohesive and definitive norm, such as the ConfesHanover was annexed to Prussia in 1866.
sions would provide, and for that reason it has gradually
4. The decline of confessionalism in the closing
declined.
years of the nineteenth century
Lutheran churches in Germany faced a uniquely
The resurgence of Lutheran confessionalism waned once perilous situation from the Third Reich. In the 1930s,
again by the end of the nineteenth century. Theological the Nazi government sought to take complete control of
education was in the hands of university academic facul- the Lutheran, Reformed and Union churches and make
ties in which the voice of the Church was less clear and them instruments for the spread of its national socialist
less distinct. This signaled the return of theological liber- ideology. This strategy became evident in the statealism as a potent force. Now the battleground in Prussia supported Deutsche Christen movement. The Prussian
shifted from a battle between confessionists and union- Union Church and other union churches which had lost
ists to the struggle between conservatives and liberals. An their confessional grounding were highly susceptible
example of this can be seen in the inability of the leaders to the inroads of this movement. In the parish council
69
elections in 1933 the Deutsche Christen swept into control to establish and maintain a confessional stance in docof all the Lutheran churches, excepting only in Bavaria, trine and practice.
Wrtemberg and Hanover. Reaction against the Deutsche
In Eastern Europe, confessionalism is emerging in
Christen within the German territorial churches led to those Lutheran churches, which had been isolated from
the creation of the Bekennende Kirche, the confessing the West during the Soviet era. A sign of this is the clear
church. This movement, however, made no reference rejection in these churches of calls to ordain women and
to the restoration of the Lutheran Confessions. It was the rejection of liberal statements concerning marriage,
instead concerned only with the preservation of what it sexuality and abortion. Also elsewhere in Europe one can
termed the essentials of the Christian faith, as agreed to see the emergence of small Lutheran bodies, which seek
in the Barmen Declaration by the Lutheran, Reformed to be faithful to the Confessions, some of which are now
and Union Church representatives who formulated the completely independent from their national churches
declaration.
and others of which still seek some accommodation
A further defection from the doctrinal norms of the with the national churches in their lands, while at the
Lutheran Confessions can be seen in the decision of the same time striving to establish and maintain confession
European Lutheran churches to ordain women to the integrity. One is reminded of the Lutheran associations,
Holy Ministry, first in Germany
which sought to maintain themselves
and later in Scandinavia and in
within the structure of the Prussian
Adherence
to
the
other smaller European Lutheran
Union Church in the nineteenth cenLutheran Confessions is
churches. The decision was seen
tury.
by many to be simply a socio-poThe year 2017 will mark the
essential to the Church
litical matter that recognized the
500th
anniversary of the Lutheran
at all times and at all
rights of women to hold high office
Reformation. Reformation jubiplaces.
in the Church. This was perhaps a
lees have more than once given rise
most clear sign of defection from
to alarming surprises. At the first
the Lutheran Confessions and the Word of God. It indi- centenary the Lutheran Hohenzollern family of Brancated that the Confessions no longer played any decisive denburg-Prussia announced its conversion to Calvinism.
role in the doctrine and life of major European Lutheran Beginning at that time the electors and kings began their
churches and that the Scriptures could be interpreted to relentless efforts to estrange Lutherans from their consupport any one of a number of position which one chose fessional identity, even forbidding theological students
to assert. In the wake of this decision astonishing new to attend the University of Wittenberg, stating that it was
positions have been taken by major Western European unacceptable on theological grounds. They interfered in
Lutheran churches concerning human sexuality, marriage the internal life of the Lutheran Church and even banned
and reproduction. Indeed the decision to ordain women subscription to the Formula of Concord. The second
brought with it an earthshaking change in those churches centenary saw the beginning of state-supported Pietism
that had traditionally claimed to be heirs of the Lutheran in Prussia. Elsewhere, the advocates of Pietism met with
Reformation.
strong resistance in the churches, but in Prussia Pietism
was established and granted legal status by King Fried6. The present-day situation in Europe
rich Wilhelm I. The third centenary brought with it the
In the closing years of the twentieth century and the inauguration of the Prussian Union and forced marriage
opening decades of the twenty-first century, one sees of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. As Hermann
almost complete submergence of conservativism in the Sasse once noted, such was the spirit in German lands in
mainline churches and at the same time a resurgence of those jubilee days that other Lutheran churches would
Lutheran confessionalism. The German and Scandinavian have gladly established ecclesiastical unions as well, but
territorial churches have surrendered to the forces of lib- could not do so because there were simply not enough
eralism, and there appears to be for them no way back to Reformed in their areas to do so.
the Confessions. The single exception to this is the case of
Now the fifth centenary lies just ahead. Lutherans a
the former territorial Church in Latvia, which since the hundred years ago could hardly envision the situation of
early 1990s has ceased to ordain women and has sought the Lutheran Church in Europe today. No one could have
70
imagined the changes in the Holy Ministry and in a host

of ethical issues, which are now considered so normal that
those who speak out against them on biblical grounds face
summary discipline for doing so. All previous promises
concerning respect for consciences were soon rescinded.
As Richard John Neuhaus, a social critic once prominent
within the Lutheran Church, wisely stated: Once orthodoxy is made optional, it is sooner or later excluded.
Concerning the future of confessional Lutheranism
in Europe one cannot speak with certainty. It has known
hard times, but it has never altogether disappeared. The
Church is called to be faithful and to abide in hope. One
should recall that half a century ago it appeared that the
organized Christian Church had been completely eradicated in the Soviet Union, and the Soviets declared that
within a few decades Christianity would be altogether a
thing of the past. Today confessional Lutheran churches
have re-emerged in what was formerly Soviet territory.
Indeed, adherence to the Lutheran Confessions is essential to the Church at all times and at all places. To abandon
them or ignore them is to court heterodoxy and its potent
challenges to the truth of the biblical message upon which
the Lutheran Reformation has been built.
The Rev. Dr. Darius Petkunas is an associate professor of
Theology at Helsinki University.
71
How are we to understand the

salvation that the justifying God
Reformation Truth in
the Global Church:
Latin America
wants to bring to the human

being?
by Ricardo Rieth
he Lutheran Reformation was established of religion concerned especially with what is allowed
permanently in Latin America three centuries and what is not allowed. That means that the center of
after Martin Luthers times. Lutheran evangelical faith is apprehended by outside observers as
ecclesiastical, educational, cultural, social and assistential a kind of moralism which is almost exclusively focused
institutions were established and focused on immigrant on prescribing rules and codes to determine the believminority groups of the population, especially Germanic ers behavior. Actually, the intention of preaching the
descendants. The Lutheran churches tried to present Gospel of Gods grace and liberation from the oppression
themselves as missionary institutions for other of the work righteousness very often is not being witpopulation groups, especially after the second half of the nessed through words and deeds, so that this testimony
twentieth century. Some changes
many times is not realized by outside
related to their characteristics of
observers in the perspective of jusFor
Luther,
life
in
its
ethnic minority churches happened
tification by grace and faith, as we
future form is not only a know it from Scripture and from the
thereafter. However, Lutherans
consequence of the final Lutheran Confessions.
never had an insertion in the context
of Latin American populations
This perception about the historjudgement. From now
like other non-Catholic Christian
ical presence of the Reformations
on, every day, through
groups, such as Baptists, for example,
heirs in Latin America, especially
the
work
of
the
Holy
or especially Pentecostals in the last
Lutherans, cannot simply close itself
Spirit, the Sanctifier,
50 years.
to a critical review. It should be seen
believers are made holy.
If we ask about the Lutherans
as a challenge, an opportunity, a
own charisma in Latin America,
commitment delivered by God to
certainly it was and is not related to promoting the con- His Latin American Lutheran people in order to carry on
version of multitudes to the Gospel, at least if we consider His mission. The outside acknowledgement that Lutherthe number of Lutherans and their congregations today. ans contribute to a qualified and necessary theological
After several decades the number of Lutherans remains education for all who are involved in the mission of God
the same or decreases. If we were to ask to representatives is very important. In the center of this theological educaof other Reformation-related church bodies their opin- tion must be the Reformation truth for the people in Latin
ion about the Lutheran historical contribution in Latin America and worldwide. All over the world, in different
America, they generally highlight the very qualified theo- times and contexts, this challenge moved Lutheran leadlogical training offered by them. That is not perceived as ers in order to identify ways of confessing, interpreting,
an exclusive benefit for Lutherans, but means also theo- preaching, teaching and living in accordance to the Reforlogical education offered to theological and ecclesiastical mation truth. Helmar Junghans, my memorable professor
leaders from other Christian groups.
in Leipzig, has shown me how significant the question on
Another consideration is that, until today, the preach- the Reformation truth was in the context of a European,
ing of the Reformation heirs in Latin America I mean unrighteous, socialist country, where the cross manifested
the Protestants is only partially identified with the itself to Christians in other ways, if compared with my
message of justification by grace and faith. From the out- unrighteous, capitalist country, Brazil. The way he wrote
side, the faith of the evanglicos is often realized as a form about the Reformation truth, describing the theme of
72
Luthers theology, will help me to speak about our com- Interpreting Rom. 1:16ff, Luther concluded that for Paul,
mitment to the Reformation truth in Latin America in the Gods righteousness is that righteousness which God
twenty-first century.
gives, which God works in the believer by His mercy,
Interpreting Ps. 51:2 (1532), Luther says that the calling him and making him righteous by faith. Simultaknowledge of God and the human being is the true and neously he understood other expressions of the Scripture:
divine theological wisdom. That means the knowledge Gods power, the power by which God makes his people
about God and the human being as it is related to the powerful, Gods wisdom, by which He makes His people
God who justifies and to the sinful human being. There- wise, and the same in relation to other expressions. In all
fore, the object of theology is the guilty and condemned these cases it is God who gives these qualities to people.
person and God the Redeemer, who justifies (WA 40 II, And what can human beings do? They can only let the
328, 1s). Thus, Luther places the guilty person in front of work of God happen to them, enduring it, suffering it.
the justifying God. That means that for him the real issue, That is why Luther later called this righteousness passive
the key concern, the main interest of theology, is God, righteousness, since we do not call it forth, but experiwho acts, works and does His work. It is God who turns ence it upon ourselves.
His attention to people and searches for them in their
Therefore, what we call justification by grace and
terrible condition. All this has to do with the Word of faith is primarily related to Luthers understanding
God. God works speaking His Word. Gods Word creates according to which God makes all things. The reformer
everything from nothing and originates life where no life always attached great importance to the work of Jesus
exists. Through His power, God does all things based on Christ. However, we cannot conclude that for him Gods
His Word in a dialogical process for
action happens exclusively through
the sinners salvation.
Jesus Christ. For Luther describes
Gods
salvation
Regarding Luke 1:49: For he
Gods action broadly. God continwho is mighty has done great things
ually creates (creatio continua). He
happens now. The Holy
for me, Luther said in his Magnifioperates in the saving work of Jesus
Spirit creates the faith,
cat interpretation (1521) that this
Christ and sanctifies permanently
makes
it
bear
fruit
and
statement means that nobody does
through the Holy Spirit. We cannot
strengthens it to live
anything, but only God operates
ever forget this comprehensiveness
in
circumstances
of
everything. He works all things. All
of Gods action.
the works of creatures are works of
Here arises another question: if
suffering and death.
God. The word almighty from the
God does all things, then is He ultiApostolic Creed should be undermately responsible for all the evil that
stood in this context. God is almighty because in all, is done? According to Luther, that question would never
through all and above all, everything is worked exclu- help, because it is speculative, a metaphysical question.
sively by His power. This is also the reason why God is This question belongs to an inappropriate way of thinkworshiped.
ing theologically about Gods action. What matters is to
Very soon in his career Luther came to that under- understand and emphasize the relationship between God
standing. It is also present in the so-called Reformation and human beings, in which God acts only for the saldiscovery. Luther tortured himself in order to discover vation of mankind and in which the human beings have
the meaning of the expression, Gods righteousness, in no ability to produce their salvation by themselves. This
the Scripture. According to his prior learning, Gods righ- theological reflection is enough to support the preachteousness was the righteousness that has to be fulfilled by ing of the liberating Gospel. It may seem very simple and
the person through his own will and strength. Although nothing new to say that a theology has to put God and His
he spent all his effort and ability to fulfill Gods righ- action in the middle. However, at that time this message
teousness, Luther fell into despair. This led him to hate was not so common. I ask the same question facing 500
God. He hated God, because God required of him some- years of Christian presence in Latin America in regard to
thing he never would fulfill through his will and strengh. the preaching of the Gospel promoted by various ChrisLuther, however, did not remain in despair. He struggled tian churches, including Lutherans. To what extent do the
to understand what St. Paul calls Gods righteousness. churches and Christian theology in Latin America have a
73
clear understanding that God is the one who acts in the and put them in movement. The God who speaks correfirst place?
sponds the human being who hears. To the human being,
In his time, Luther asked: How can I have a gracious God is the one who should be heard. The sequence of the
God? In the practical spirituality of his time, the main God-human relationship is determined. First, God speaks
emphasis corresponded to the search for God through the His Word to the human being, who can only hear and
most different works. That spirituality had its main refer- respond to the interpellation of God. God attaches His
ence in human action (anthropocentric) and not in what action with His Word. Outside the Word there is no posGod himself operates (theocentric). In the Reformation sibility to know God. There is no room to speculate about
discovery, the realization that God makes all things is God. The source of knowledge about God and His work is
fundamental. Luthers First Commandment explanation only Gods action through His Word, Jesus Christ (John
in the Small Catechism puts it with clarity: We should 1). All theological statements, everything that is proposed
fear, love and trust in God above all things.
for the life and mission of the Church has to be tested in
Besides positioning God and His work in the center correspondence with Scripture. The Church is a creature
of preaching, it is also important to say something about of Gods Word (creature verbi).
how God operates. For Luther, God alone is the origin
For Luther it is also important to recognize that God
and the one who speaks His Word. God is still speaking. works through His Word in a process. His theology is
He speaks to all people. It means
characterized by pairs of opposing
that no one deserves the Word of
concepts: spirit/letter, Law/Gospel,
Sanctification has a
God. God is the one who speaks
hidden God/revealed God, freedom/
fundamental
significance
to people. Luther identifies in the
oppression. These are pairs of conScripture two models related to
cepts to describe the action of God.
for the believer, the
Gods speaking, when he makes a
The theme of Luthers theology is
Church and the human
distinction between the Latin verbs
Gods relationship with the human
community. The Holy
loqui (talk) and dicere (say). There
being. That relationship is a process,
Spirit kills selfishness,
is a way when God speaks His Word
that is, it is historic, dynamic and
greed,
the
desire
for
(loqui) that does not use any presdirected toward an end.
sure, which does not force the person
Gods action is dialectical.
revenge and the lust for
to anything. Moreover, there is the
Through the Law, God shows to
power in the believer.
model of the creative Word of God
the human being that he or she is
(dicere), when what God says hapa sinner. Through the Gospel, He
pens the same way He says it. Luther understood the promises forgiveness, faith and justice to him or her.
Word broadly. The Word has to do with Creation, with But it is not a single deed. The human being such as
Redemption through Jesus Christ and with their contin- Luther needs to be healed and God wants to heal. Gods
uous updating and contextualization by the Holy Spirit. action is often incomprehensible, hidden and contradicAnd it has to do with Gods action through His creatures. tory regarding what believers expect from God. So the
The external Word of God (loqui) is a divine interpel- reformer writes that God often acts unexpectedly, conlation, which does not always cause an effect. To the trary to everything believers used to await from Him. God
external Word belongs Gods incarnation in Jesus Christ allows the evil, the temptation, and breaks the pride of the
and the preaching of the witnesses of Gods will Moses, superbs. Those who suffer that fail in the understanding
the prophets and the apostles. The Scripture is the wit- of Gods action. There are times when God works things
ness of the external Word and is the decisive source by outside, contrary to the way He usually acts. He does it to
which to experience Gods speaking. God acts primarily operate what is truly and properly His work. More than
through preaching. For Luther, the Word of God spoken, dialectic, Gods mode of action is dialogical. Through its
preached and practiced has a prominent position. When stance, human beings respond to the interpellation of
the Word is preached and materially practiced, it is then God, the Word of God. After the reaction of the human
updated, contextualized and embodied in peoples real- being in his life, God speaks again. Gods action is a proity. God employs as His instrument the exterior Word, cess, a dialogic process.
expressed by people, to bring the Holy Spirit to hearts
The end intended by God through this process, in
74
which the human being is challenged by Gods Word, is believers are made holy. Gods salvation happens now.
salvation. The definition of theology presented earlier said The Holy Spirit creates the faith, makes it bear fruit and
that its object is the human being, guilty and condemned, strengthens it to live in circumstances of suffering and
and the God who justifies and is the Redeemer. Luther death. Sanctification has a fundamental significance for
does not mean that all theology ends in the doctrine the believer, the Church and the human community. The
of justification by grace and faith. The same reformer, Holy Spirit kills selfishness, greed, the desire for revenge
inspired by various biblical texts has dealt with issues such and the lust for power in the believer. Therefore, accordas creation, education, politics and economics. However, ing to Luther, the believers could and should act, inspired
this is what he wants to emphasize as
by God the Holy Spirit, in the secular
the center of his theology: the living
government without being moved
The salvation of
God who acts for the salvation of the
by self-interest or for the purpose of
the
human
being
that
human being who is away from God
obtaining benefits privately. The salGod operates by the
through the sin.
vation of the human being that God
How are we to understand the
operates by the Holy Spirit is, indeed,
Holy Spirit is, indeed,
salvation that the justifying God
directed toward its fulfillment in
directed toward its
wants to bring to the human being?
eternal life. Simultaneously, it is
fulfillment in eternal
In 1536, Luther defined the human
also salvation now, for believers and
life.
Simultaneously,
being as matter of God for life in its
unbelievers, in the two dimensions
it is also salvation
future form. Future form means
of divine action, the spiritual and the
the eternal glory. For Luther, life in
secular.
now, for believers and
its future form is not only a conseunbelievers, in the two
quence of the final judgement. From
dimensions of divine
The Rev. Ricardo Rieth is professor of
now on, every day, through the work
Historical Theology at Universidade
action,
the
spiritual
and
of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier,
Luterana do Brasil.
the secular.
75
The message of the Reformation

is not one merely for half a
The Lutheran
Reformation and the
North American Inheritance
millennium, but one for all time.
by Gerhard Bode
Introduction
istorians record that, at the Diet of Worms

In the spring of 1931, a young German theologian
in 1521, Native American princes were in traveling across the United States came to St. Louis, Misattendance. They were guests if not newly souri. While he was in town, he visited the campus of
conquered subjects of Emperor Charles V. Perhaps Concordia Seminary. He strolled among the buildings,
they were witnesses of Luthers famous stand and heard explored the quadrangles and took in all the sights. Conhis declaration before the illustrious gathering at the Diet. cordia Seminary made an impression on him; in fact,
History does not record what, if anything, the Native he wrote about it in the report of his travels to the folks
Americans thought of Martin Luther. For his part, Luther back in Germany. Reflecting more broadly on the state
seems not to have noticed them. He knew the so-called of Lutheranism in America, and German Lutheranism
New World existed, but he didnt
in particular, he drew some definite
think much about it, referring to it
conclusions, for example: There is
The purpose of the
only a few times in his writings. Yet,
no pure, German church as far
whole
Scripture
is
to
the New World has not neglected
as I know, anywhere in America.
proclaim Christ, to
Martin Luther and his Reformation.1
He noted that in some churches
proclaim the Gospel of
preaching was still in German, but
The question of Lutheran identiin his experience, these sermons
Christ for the salvation
ty in America
were pretty dismal. The pastors genof sinners, the ChristLutherans have been in North Amererally do not have a good training.
given freedom from sin,
ica for four hundred years now, and
As far as Concordia Seminary was
the expectations of a future presence
death and the devil.
concerned (which he noted was of
are optimistic. Given the past-andthe Missouri Synod), the pastors it
present dedication of Lutheran
produced were in their exclusive orthodoxy, insufferable;
churches in America to evangelical teaching, mission, and although the Missouri Synod has made the greatest
and service, the future should be bright, at least in some financial sacrifice [in building the campus of Concordia
centers. Yet the questions of Lutheran identity and the Seminary], it is, without question, on its way to collapse.
consequences of that identity remain key for Lutherans He noticed that in the worship services in the German
in the North American context. What does it mean to Lutheran churches only a few old people came hardly
be a Lutheran Church in America? What is our identity any young people. That was because the preaching wasnt
as heirs of the Lutheran Reformation? These questions any good. He concluded his report by observing: [O]f a
matter because they give us clues as to how new genera- particular understanding of the Reformation heritage in
tions become heirs of Luthers Reformation message. Yet these German churches I found not a trace.2
the nature of this heritage and the dedication to Luthers
This young theologian may be excused; he was what
message has not always been certain. Perhaps a story will his circumstances had made him. Sure, he thought we
illustrate this point.
Cf. Lewis W. Spitz, Luther in America: Reformation History Since
Philip Schaff, in Luther in der Neuzeit: Wissenschaftliches Symposion des
Vereins fr Reformationsgeschichte. Herausgegeben von Bernd Moeller.
Schriften des Vereins fr Reformationsgeschichte, Band 1929 Gtersloh:
Gerd Mohn, 1983), 177.
1
76
Quotations translated from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Barcelona, Berlin,

Amerika 19281931, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke Band 10 (Mnchen:
Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1991), 275. For a fictional story along a similar vein,
cf. Brother John [W. N. Harley], Little Journeys with Martin Luther
(Columbus, OH: [s.n.], 1916), 227.
2
were losers, and that our seminary and our Synod were are staking a claim in the American religious and cultural
going belly up. Perhaps he was right about the lousy landscape.
In the pluralistic culture of America, religion is pripreaching, but I find it particularly irritating that he
assumed we didnt get the Reformation, let alone follow its vatized. It is classified as a voluntary activity and may
teachings. But we can understand him. He didnt know us be picked up or discarded at an individuals discretion.
very well, and he didnt understand our history. He wasnt It is sometimes hard for Lutherans to compete in this
from the North America after all, in fact, he was from free market religious environment, since the environment requires dealing with other religious groups with
Berlin, Germany, and his name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Lutherans in America likely would have been disap- forbearance, charity and mutual respect. In this tolerant
context, doctrinal positions are often
pointed in Bonhoeffers assessment
deemphasized, individual belief is
of them in 1931. I suppose some
It
is
helpful
to
diminished, and the churches graduLutherans today might agree that
ally accept the ethical standards and
Bonhoeffers assessment of Ameriremember that our faith
values of the broader culture. For
can Lutheranism is truer now than
is determined not by the
many in this culture there is no fear
when he first arrived at it. Still, this
personal reassurance we
of God because there is no God to
story may be helpful because it
may have as Lutherans.
fear, let alone a God to fear, love and
prompts the important question:
Our
confession
is
not
trust.
Just what is our understanding of
In this American religious and
the Reformation heritage? This
decided by what others
cultural context, Lutherans face a
takes us back to the problem of
think of us or even what
number of significant challenges.
Lutheran identity and the question
we think of ourselves.
Some of these challenges result from
of what it means to be a Lutheran
Our faith is defined and
a failure to think critically about the
Church in America.
formed by Jesus Christ
past and all of them result from a failThe religious and cultural
ure to think theologically. Christian
crucified
for
us.
context in North America
churches some of them Lutheran
Every generation of Lutherans in
are often ignorant of their own
America has been confronted with these questions. And history and do not know what their churches have conthe question, What does it mean to be Lutheran there? fessed in the past and why they have confessed it. They do
remains an important one, especially as new Lutheran not know their own theological history, their own theoimmigrants come to live in cities and towns of North logical identity and distinctness, and so have little bearing
America. Here the problem of Lutheran identity is often on the way forward. Moreover, their denominational
combined with ethnic identity, both of which are of crit- ambivalence leads to an uncertainty about the content of
ical importance. What does it mean to be an Ethiopian the churchs mission as well as its goals. Finally, Christian
Lutheran in America? What does it mean to be a Lutheran churches in America, some of them Lutheran, idenfrom India living there, a Chinese Lutheran, a Lutheran tify themselves less and less with traditional theological
speaking Spanish, a French-speaking West African in teachings. Lutheran churches rooted in a clear historical,
America? How does the Reformation message of freedom confessional tradition may feel pressure to become more
in Christ translate? These questions of Lutheran identity like those that do not because it is uncomfortable to be
in the American context are key, given the complexity and outside the norm. It is difficult to take a stand where very
diversity of its religious landscape.
few others are standing. Then again, arent Lutherans
The Lutheran Church in America exists in a context supposed to take a stand for Gods Word and its truth?
that is increasingly pluralistic. The influences of Roman Everything depends upon what Lutherans stand.
Catholicism and Protestantism especially American
Historically, the American Lutheran churches were
Evangelicalism have confronted Lutheran churches largely comprised of European immigrants and their
for centuries. And for years now they also have been descendants. Perhaps it is inevitable that what will happen
encountering Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and a long list to the new immigrants is what happened to those that
of other religious traditions and movements, all of which came before them. They will become new Americans,
77
bringing with them their unique traditions, perspectives

and insights, and add their own contributions to what it
means to be a Lutheran Church in America. Once again
history and theology become present partners informing
all of us about the way forward.
and formed by Jesus Christ crucified for us. The Gospel:

That is the message Martin Luther proclaimed and that is
what we claim as our own as Lutherans.
In John 8, Jesus says: If you abide in My word, you are
truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free if the Son sets you free, you will
The key to Lutheran identity: past, present and
be free indeed.
future
In this text, Jesus is speaking to Jews who had believed
Traditionally, questions of Lutheran identity have been in Him. They didnt need to be freed from anything, they
informed by our confessional basis, our commitments to think, because they have Abraham as their ancestor.
the Scripture and to the ecumenical creeds and the other Makes no difference, Jesus says, because everyone who
Lutheran confessional documents. The Confessions guide sins is a slave to sin. Slaves have no permanent place in
the work of the Church; they inform what we believe and the household, but a son remains forever. Who is a son?
how we practice the Christian life. They do these things One set free by the Son all those abiding in His Word,
because they faithfully reiterate
true disciples who know the truth
what Gods Word says. Although
and are set free.
As true sons and
the Church believes, teaches and
Sin doesnt care who our favorite
confesses the entire Word of God in
daughters, we abide in
reformer is. Sin and death dont care
Scripture, what is at the heart of the
what church we go to, what hymns
Gods saving presence
Scripture makes all the difference:
we sing or with whom we have felamong us. This is our
Christ is at the heart. The purpose
lowship. Sin, death and the devil only
identity, who we truly
of the whole Scripture is to proclaim
care about who our master is. Whom
are. And it is this Christ do we obey; whom do we follow? In
Christ, to proclaim the Gospel of
Christ for the salvation of sinners,
that we proclaim to the
whose way are we going?
the Christ-given freedom from sin,
Being justified by faith alone in
world, to the culture in
death and the devil. The Lutheran
Christ alone by grace alone is not our
which we live.
Confessions are centered in the
inalienable right, not a personal privGospel and the concern to comilege handed down. Our freedom is
fort sinful human beings. Broader still, we see that Gods not inherited from our Lutheran ancestors. Only Christ
Word is a living, creative instrument through which God gives this freedom to those abiding in His Word.
cares for and preserves His Church.
Why are we free? Because we are in Christ, we are in
The Lutheran Confessions reveal how the first genera- His Word, we are His disciples. We have the truth, we
tions of Lutherans in the Wittenberg tradition understood have Him who is the Truth. We are free because Christ
the truth of Luthers Reformation message and provide alone is the object of our faith, not ourselves, not our herthe key for us to understand this truth today and in the itage, not Luther, nor any saints, but Christ alone. We are
future. Lutherans must be concerned about the Churchs free because of His glorious suffering, His glorious death,
fidelity to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions His glorious resurrection to save wretched sinners. He
even as they are concerned about the Churchs mission. has set us free from sin and death and the devil, and we
Faithful confession of Gods Word, and outreach with that are free indeed. As free sons and daughters, we dwell in
Word to the world, belong together. Without both, the the Word. We take up permanent residence in Christ. As
Church will not stand.
true sons and daughters, we abide in Gods saving presence among us. This is our identity, who we truly are. And
What is the Reformation heritage? Who are we
it is this Christ that we proclaim to the world, to the cultoday as Lutherans?
ture in which we live.
It is helpful to remember that our faith is determined not
Why do we follow Christ? Because Christ calls us.
by the personal reassurance we may have as Lutherans.
The way may be hard, but we follow Christ! As Luther
Our confession is not decided by what others think of us
proclaimed in the last two of his 95 Theses: Christians
or even what we think of ourselves. Our faith is defined
should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their
78
Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells; And let them

thus be more confident of entering heaven through
many tribulations rather than through a false assurance
of peace. Where Christ bids us follow may shake our
confidence to its very foundation, but we follow Christ!
Remaining in Christs Word we are free. And that is who
we are.
Conclusion
The message of the Reformation is not one merely for half
a millennium, but one for all time. The message of the
Lutheran Reformation centered in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is by no means a message merely for Wittenberg, but for all places, for the world. And it is into the
world that this message has been proclaimed and will, by
Gods grace, continue to be proclaimed.
The Rev. Dr. Gerhard Bode is assistant professor of historical
theology and archivist at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,
Mo.
79
Just so, I tell you, there is joy
From Repentance
to Rejoicing
() before the angels of God

over one sinner who repents
() (Luke 15:10).
by Albert B. Collver III
Introduction
ith the approach of the 500th anniversary union church and the loss of the Lutheran confession and
of the publication of Martin Luthers 95 Lutheran identity, a reality that still plagues the Lutheran
Theses, the entire Lutheran world as well as churches in Germany and most of the Lutheran World
a significant portion of the Christian world, including the Federation (LWF) today.
Roman Catholic Church, has pondered how to celebrate,
The Reformation celebration of 2017 will be the first
commemorate or at least acknowledge this milestone ecumenical Reformation. The Luther Garden here in
Reformation anniversary. Not without justification, the Wittenberg memorializes this ecumenical ReformaReformation has been associated with Martin Luther, tion by having the five central trees around the cross of
which at times has caused the Reformation to be portrayed the Luther rose held by the Roman Catholic Church, the
as nearly indistinct from the person
Orthodox Church, the Anglican
of Martin Luther. In the polemical
Communion, the World Alliance of
The remembrance
battles between the Protestants
Reformed Churches and the World
of
the
Lords
Church
and Roman Catholics, the image
Methodist Council.2 Churches from
shows us the times
of Martin Luther often determined
all denominations are participating
how the Reformation itself was
in this Reformation celebration.3 Yet
of reformation where
viewed. For instance, in 1529, Hans
ecumenism that does not acknowlthe Gospel flourishes
Brosamer created an engraving of
edge distinctive confessions of faith
because repentance
a seven-headed Luther to identify
as it works toward unity is nothing
abounds.
Martin Luther as the seven-headed
other than a modern enthusiasm
beast prophesied in the Revelation
that slowly extinguishes the Holy
13. If Luther were a servant of the devil who rose up Scriptures as the ultimate authority.4 In light of the often
from the sea as a false prophet to lead people astray, then tragic history of Reformation celebrations, we should
his movement, the Reformation, also must be from the ponder how to celebrate the 500th Reformation anniverdevil. Each age has held a view of Martin Luther and of sary rightly.
the Reformation that reflected the zeitgeist of that period.
The rationalist, the age of Enlightenment, the Marxist,
the Communist, the Nazis, the nationalist and just about
2 German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation.
every other ism has viewed the Reformation through Luthergarten: List of All Trees, 2015. http://luthergarten.de/list.html
its own lens. The Reformation celebration of 1617, the 3 Luther 2017 International. The Luther Garden in Wittenberg. Luther
first significant celebration of the Reformation, led to 2017 500 Years of Reformation, 2015. http://www.luther2017.de/en/orte/
luther-garden-in-wittenberg. Churches of all denominations from all
the execution of the 24 nobles in Prague who followed over the world are invited to become godparents for one of the 500
the Reformation and began the Thirty Years War.1 The trees in Wittenberg and to plant a second tree in the area of their home
parish.
Reformation of 1817 instituted the Prussian Union, 4
Hermann Sasse, Ecumenical Anniversary: Ecumenical Enthusiasm,
which was commemorated by the Luther statue here in in Letters to Lutheran Pastors, trans. Peter Petzling, vol. 3. (St. Louis:
Wittenberg. The 1817 Reformation was the birth of the Concordia Publishing House, 2015). Kindle location: 5749. But this
1
Albert B. Collver, Theological Observer: A Vision for Lutheranism in

Central Europe, Concordia Theological Quarterly 78 (2014): 2.
80
enthusiasm slowly extinguishes what is still left over of the churches

of the Reformation For all these churches Holy Scripture served as
the ultimate authority. This is being lost through modern enthusiasm.
Together with the authority of the Confessions, the authority of
Scripture is in decline
A helpful guide toward celebrating the Reformation for Germany, Europe and North America. A 2009 article
rightly comes from a sermon from 1630 for the celebra- from Christianity Today about Christianity in Germany
tion of the 100th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. reported, The Protestant state church is fairly dead. The
Hoe van Hoenegg, the senior court preacher of Dresden, percent of committed Christians in Germany is maybe
provided the definition for a Reformation celebration in at 3 or 4 percent.7 In North America, mainline Proteshis sermon:
tantism is in steep decline, even hemorrhaging.8 The New
[F]irst as a remembrance festival, at which we
York Times in a 2012 article noted, This decline is the
remember a great historical event; second, as
latest chapter in a story dating to the 1960s. The trends
a praise and thanksgiving festival; third, as a
unleashed in that era not only the sexual revolution,
miracle festival concerning Gods miracles; fourth,
but also consumerism and materialism, multiculturala prayer festival at which we desire to pray for
ism and relativism threw all of American Christianity
the preservation of the divine Word; and fifth, as
into crisis, and ushered in decades of debate over how
a festival of repentance, at which we pray for the
to keep the nations churches relevant and vital Pracforgiveness of our sins in the despising of the Word of
tically every denomination Methodist, Lutheran,
God, and that we should begin and strive for a new
Presbyterian that has tried to adapt itself to contempolife with greater zeal for and devotion to his preached
rary liberal values has seen an Episcopal-style plunge in
Word as doers of the same. Then the festival
church attendance.9
becomes a festival of rejoicing
In the 1960s, two-thirds of
and jubilation in heaven [Luke
Americans considered themselves
15:10].5
Protestant. In the first decade of
The Church grows
the twenty-first century, less than
and expands by the
The Reformation celebration
50 percent of Americans called
proclamation of the
remembers the great historical
themselves Protestant. In the twenGospel,
yet
in
this
world
event when the Lord delivered His
ty-first-century United States, the
it exists under the cross
people. The Reformation celebralargest religious group after the
tion repents of our sin of despising
Roman Catholics are the nones, or
where our own sin and
the Word of God. The Reformathe attacks of Satan and those who identify with no particular
tion celebration rejoices and gives
religious group. The sustenance and
the world can hinder it.
thanks over the sinner who repents.
growth of Roman Catholicism within
The International Conference on
the United States has not been driven
Confessional Leadership in the 21st Century hopes to by either births or conversions, but rather by the immiencourage, Celebrating the Reformation Rightly by gration of Roman Catholics from Latin America. Despite
remembrance, repentance and rejoicing.
the alarming statistics about the state of religion in the
United States, North Americans are still twice as likely
From repentance to rejoicing
to be affiliated with a religious group than Europeans.
In 1524, in To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany
That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools,
Dr. Martin Luther wrote, For you should know that
Gods word and grace is like a passing shower of rain
which does not return where it has once been.6 Martin
Luthers prophecy about the Gospel passing away from
one land and going to another appears to have come true
Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Germanys Cold Religion, Christianity

Today (November 2009). http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/
novemberweb-only/145-11.0.html.
7
Hermann Sasse, Thoughts at the Eve of the Reformation Anniversary

of 1967, in Letters to Lutheran Pastors, trans. Charles Schaum, vol. 3.
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2015).
Ed Stetzer, 3 Important Church Trends in the Next 10 Years:

Christianity in the United States May Look Very Different in 10 Years,
Christianity Today (April 2015). http://www.christianitytoday.com/
edstetzer/2015/april/3-important-trends-in-church-in-next-ten-years.
html. Mainline Protestant churches are defined as United Methodist
Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Episcopal
Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), American Baptist Churches,
United Church of Christ (UCC) and The Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ). Trend #1: The Hemorrhaging of Mainline Protestantism
Mainline Protestantism is in trouble and in substantive decline.
Martin Luther, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and

Helmut T. Lehmann, Luthers Works: The Christian in Society II, vol. 45
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 352.
Ross Douthat, Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved? New York Times,

July 15, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/
douthat-can-liberal-christianity-be-saved.html.
81
In comparison to Europe, the United States is still a religious nation. If the demographic trends continue, North
America will catch up to Europe regarding religious attitudes within a few decades. Meanwhile, as Protestant
Christianity declines both in North America and Europe,
Islam increases. Some demographic projections look
exceedingly bleak for the Christian church, particularly
Protestantism, in the West.
Christopher Wright notes, More Christians worship
in Anglican churches in Nigeria each week than in all
the Episcopal and Anglican churches of Britain, Europe,
and North America combined. There are more Baptists
in Congo than in Britain. More people are in church
every Sunday in communist China than in all of Western Europe.10 According to Missiometrics 2008: Reality
Checks for the Christian World Communions, 91 percent of all new Christians can be found in Africa, Asia
or Latin America.11 Perhaps even more alarming is how
evangelism has been conducted in the West, primarily
in the United States and Europe. 91% of all Christian
outreach/evangelism does not target non-Christians
but targets other Christians, many in wealthy World
C countries and cities.12 What this means in practical
terms is that many to most of the congregations whose
membership is increasing within the United States are
simply taking members from other congregations and/
or denominations. This is particularly apparent in the
mega-church movement within the United States, whose
members largely come from the membership of other
congregations or lapsed Christians rather than from new
baptisms or conversions. One might say that evangelism
in western Protestant Christianity is akin to the reshuffling of the deck chairs on a sinking ship.
Significant amounts of ink have been spilled over the
past couple of decades, attempting to explain the shifting
tides of world Christianity and highlighting demographic
and social changes. A common theme attributes this
shift as a post-Constantinian time when the Church, as
in the Early Church, did not have the institutional and
legal support of Caesar or the government. This theme
10
Christopher J. H. Wright, An Upside-Down World: Distinguishing

between Home and Mission Field No Longer Makes Sense, Christianity
Today, January 2007. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/
january/30.42.html.
also highlights a distrust of institutions, including church

denominations and seminaries. It tends to emphasize
how doctrine supplanted practice. One suggested cure is
to return to how the Church operated in the Early Church
before the Constantinian era, before the Church became
institutionalized. Some books suggest that the Church
needs to reclaim the gifts the Early Church possessed.
The tremendous growth of the Church in places like
Africa, Asia and Latin America is attributed to how these
churches follow the pattern of the Early Church. If western churches could rediscover this formula or pattern of
the Early Church and of those rapidly growing churches
in the global south,13 it is suggested that they, too, could
grow again.
Alan Hirsch, one such author who seeks to transform
the twenty-first century Church, argues that the decline
of the western Church (apart from external factors) is a
problem of ecclesiology. He states that the failure of western churches to be missional can be found in ecclesiology.
He writes:
Clearly one of the biggest issues in the church today
is the discussion about what it means to be missional.
We believe that how we deal with this will determine
the future viability of the Church in the West. But
we fear that so many of these vital conversations are
doomed to frustration because the people in them
are unwilling or unable to reconfigure ministry to
suit the missional context. Although many buy into
the concept, they are unwilling to recalibrate the
ecclesiology. Christendom has been run on a largely
shepherd-teacher model, and because it has had a
privileged position in society, it has been inclined
to dispense with the more missional or evangelistic
ministry types (apostle, prophet, and evangelist).14
Hirsch essentially argues that the western Church went
off the rails after Constantine embraced the Church and
gave it a favored position with the state. He claims that
at that time the Church became institutionalized, which
locked the Church into a shepherd-teacher model to
the determent of the other spiritual offices established by
Christ. Hirsch bases his view on the interpretation that
David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson and Peter F. Crossing,

Missiometrics 2008: Reality Checks for Christian World
Communions, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 32:1
(January 2008): 28.
Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim, The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic

Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century Church (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2012). Kindle location: 685. The early church, various
movements over the centuries, and the developing world now
(especially India and China) have displayed this same vitality. These are
all great expressions of the apostolic movement.
12
14
11
Ibid., 29.
82
13
Ibid., Kindle location: 1048.
in Ephesians 4, St. Paul mandates a five-fold ministry for years after the Edinburgh mission conference, Hermann
the Church called APEST (apostle, prophet, evangelist, Sasse noted, Entire churches that once played a role in
shepherd (pastor), teacher). Hirsch states, All five are the world are disappearing One needs to ask, however,
needed if we are to be the authentically missional church what has taken place of these ecclesiastical communions?
as Jesus intended us to be.15 He developed a method The answer is union churches.18 He also noted that the
using sociology and psychology to identify if a person is creed would become interpreted in a liberal way and even
an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd or teacher. Not the name of the Holy Trinity would only become a liturgionly is Hirschs conception of the Holy Ministry against cal formula for some. Although perhaps it is true that no
the teachings of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confes- one could have predicted precisely what exact configurasions, particularly Articles V and XIV of the Augsburg tions the decline of western churches would have taken,
Confession, but neither ecclesiology or the ministry, or the seeds for their decline had already been planted by the
returning to an imagined conception of the Church as it end of the nineteenth century.
might have existed before the time of Constantine, will
A portion of this conference theme is remembrance.
save the Church or cause it to grow. The kingdom of God It would do us well to remember the salvation history
grows and expands as the Augsburg Confession, Article of Gods people. Throughout the Holy Scriptures, the
V, confesses: He works faith, when and where it pleases Church has had a pattern of orthodoxy, decline, error
God in those who hears the good news.
and reformation.19 For Melanchthon, and most of the
The Church grows and expands by the proclamation Lutherans who followed him, the history of the world was
of the Gospel, yet in this world it exists under the cross sacred history, which told the story of how the Lord prewhere our own sin and the attacks
served the Church on earth, from the
of Satan and the world can hinder it.
creation of the world until the end of
This indeed is the great mystery of
the world when Christ would return.
Church history
Luthers Bondage of the Will, that the
The history of the world shows those
demonstrates that both
all-powerful and eternal Lord allows
who were the Lords witnesses to the
gratitude for the Lords
His Church to suffer in this world
truth throughout time, but also how
gifts
and
repentance
are
and His Gospel to be hindered by
the Lutheran Church is the continusinful men. For this reason, as Luther
ation of the Lords ancient Church.20
lost when dogma is lost.
taught, when the people of God no
One of the most significant purposes
longer have gratitude for the Gospel
or applications of Church history is
and fail to repent, the Gospel moves to another place as for the Church to learn how the Church in the past fell
a passing rain shower. As the first thesis of the 95 Theses into sin so that the Church today can repent of her own
states, When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, sins and give thanks for the forgiveness given in Christ
Repent [Matt. 4:17], he willed the entire life of believers Jesus.
to be one of repentance.16
Church history demonstrates that both gratitude for
Often times it is said that 50 years ago no one the Lords gifts and repentance are lost when dogma is
predicted the decline of the western Church.17 This obser- lost. Hermann Sasse notes:
vation is not correct. On the Reformation in 1960, fifty
The modern Ecumenical Movement is the child
of an undogmatic Protestantism. The condition of
15 Ibid., Kindle location: 1066.
our churches should be a serious warning for us to
16
Martin Luther, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and

Helmut T. Lehmann, Luthers Works: Career of the Reformer I, vol. 31
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 25.
17
Timothy Tennent, Megatrends That Are Shaping Twenty-First

Century Missions From Moratorium and Malaise to Selah and Rebirth,
in Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the TwentyFirst Century, Invitation to Theological Studies Series (Grand Rapids:
Kregel Academic & Professional, 2010), 1551. Kindle location: 92.
None of these developments were predicted fifty years ago. Today, as
I survey the landscape of contemporary missions and missiological
reflection, it is clear that those who live in the West are facing a serious
crisis concerning missions and Christian identity within the larger
global Christian movement.
18
Sasse, Ecumenical Anniversary: Ecumenical Enthusiasm. Kindle

location: 5856.
19
Phillip Melanchthon noted this pattern, as elaborated by Peter

Fraenkel, Testimonia Patrum; the Function of the Patristic Argument in
the Theology of Philip Melanchthon (Genve: E. Droz, 1961).
Alexandra Kess, Johann Sleidan and the Protestant Vision of History
(Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2008), 132. Two decades after
Frank and Melanchthon elaborated on the idea of a chain of Gods
true witnesses throughout the centuries, culminating in the Protestant
Church, this concept was taken up by Matthias Flacius Illyricus
(152075).
20
83
examine ourselves in the depth of our conscience as

to whether we have perhaps lost, with the dogma of
our church, also the ability to think dogmatically.
And it could be that one can no longer understand
the Gospel if one no longer understands its dogmatic
content.21
When the teachings of the faith are lost, so, too, is the
Gospel itself.
The western churches that have forgotten the history
of the Lords people and who have ceased to repent, not
only are in danger of being in the wilderness for forty
additional years but are in danger of total apostasy and
the final judgment of the Lord. The western churches,
which led the missionary drive at the beginning of the
twentieth century to reach every people group with
Christ, today in many cases have departed from the faith
once delivered to the now rapidly growing churches of the
global South. Nearly every western church that accepted
the ordination of women against the teachings of the
Holy Scriptures today accepts not only the blessing and/
or marriage of same-sex couples but also are now in the
process of accepting the ordination of practicing homosexuals. The hermenutical connection between these two
positions is well established but almost entirely denied,
hidden behind the cloak of social justice.22 The western Church faces a great danger that the wilderness will
become Gehenna. Yet even in the wilderness, the Lord
preserves a remnant who lament and repent.
Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

In the history of the Church, a Reformation from apostasy
flowed from repentance. The message of the Reformation is one of repentance. As the Psalmist says, Against
you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your
sight Let the bones that you have broken rejoice (Ps.
51:4, 8). Rejoicing comes from being restored in the forgiveness won by Christ on the cross. The remnant of the
Church of Christ in the West rejoices in the forgiveness of
sins and in seeing the working of Christ in the churches
of the global South. In the western churches, where the
sight of baptisms are relatively uncommon in compari21
Hermann Sasse, Fifty-Five: From New Delhi to Helsinki

Lutheranism in the Chaos of the Ecumenical Movement, in Letters to
Lutheran Pastors, trans. Holgar Sonntag, vol. 3 (St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 2015). Kindle location: 7373.
22
See John T. Pless, The Ordination of Women and Ecclesial

Endorsement of Homosexuality: Are They Related? in Women Pastors?
3rd ed. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014).
84
son to some places in the world, the broken bones rejoice

when they see the baptism of several hundred to a thousand people at one time in Africa. Among those from the
western churches, where many magnificent church buildings go relatively to entirely empty Sunday morning, the
broken bones rejoice when they see hundreds and thousands of people worshiping for three hours in the global
South. In the West, where few unbelievers are converted
and where most church growth comes from transfers or
sheep stealing, the broken bones rejoice to see new congregations appearing on a weekly basis in the global South.
The witness of the Churchs vitality in other places provides
for mutual encouragement of the brethren. It bears witness
to the words of Jesus that the gates of hell will not prevail against the truth. Perhaps those in the West could be
tempted by a theology of glory or those in the global South
be tempted to triumphalism, which is why the entire life of
the believer must be one of repentance.
In the history of the Lords Church (both that of
the old Israel and the new Israel), a pattern of apostasy,
reformation and orthodoxy can be seen. This is the passing of the rain shower from one place to another. The
remembrance of the Lords Church shows us the times of
reformation where the Gospel flourishes because repentance abounds. It also shows us apostasy and extended
times of wandering in the wilderness. Perhaps in the
past the Church at large, separated by vast distances, was
not aware of simultaneous moments of apostasy of the
Church in one place while a great flourishing, growth
and reformation occurred in others. Yet today we live in
a time when the people of God who are entering into
the wilderness because of their sin, lack of gratitude for
the Gospel and failure to repent can seek the mutual
consolation of the brethren from the churches experiencing orthodoxy, vitality and reformation. As the Body
of Christ, we bear one anothers burdens. As the western
Church enters the wilderness, the remnant receives joy,
seeing the rains of the Gospel pour on the churches of
the global South. Meanwhile, the churches of the global
South can see their brothers and sisters in Christ passing on the horizon into the wilderness. Remember us in
prayer and pray for our repentance, so that the bones you
have broken may rejoice.
The Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III is LCMS director of
Church Relations and assistant to President Matthew C.
Harrison.
Our heavenly Father addresses
Enduring Hope:
The West and Beyond
us in His Word through different

perspectives and circumstances,
even in times of hardship.
by Roland Gustafsson
or years I have been reflecting upon the tragic damnation, of life and death is at hand. From this context
development in Sweden, Europe and the Western we certainly acknowledge that the ministry of reconworld at large, as far as the spiritual development is ciliation is a wonderful ministry, a God-given ministry!
concerned. Christianity is on a decline, and we are deeply It is not based upon man, but upon God. He has made
influenced by secularization. Nobody is unaffected by this us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the
phenomenon. From a missiological point of view, I am letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit
thankful to God; He addresses us in His Word through gives life (3:6).
different perspectives and circumstances, even in times
Humanly speaking, there would be enough discourof hardship. For example, in epistles like 2 Peter, Jude agement in order to lose heart. However, Paul is full of
and 1, 2 and 3 John, we learn about the preservation of confidence: Therefore, since through Gods mercy we
orthodoxy. Furthermore, in books like Hebrews, 1 Peter have this ministry, we do not lose heart (4:1). Then the
and Revelation, we learn about adorning the Gospel in apostle shares his personal experience, which I do think
the midst of adversity.
is most important in a context like ours as well: We have
Lately I have studied and felt
renounced secret and shameful ways;
at home in 2 Corinthians, an episwe do not use deception, nor do
Troubles seem to be
tle where the apostle Paul opens
we distort the word of God. On the
unavoidable, but God
up his heart and his ministry in an
contrary, by setting forth the truth
is
a
comforter
in
such
extraordinary way. He is mistreated
plainly we commend ourselves to
and misunderstood but is defendeveryones conscience in the sight of
situations.
ing himself in a very open way with
God (4:2). Transparency is at hand.
a focus on the ministry of reconcilFaith and good conscience are in
iation (chapter 5). Let me share some perspectives from focus! The agenda is to set forth the truth plainly by comhis experiences. I am sure we need this encouragement, in mending yourself to every mans conscience. This matter
order to endure in hope, in the West and beyond.
is certainly not self-evident in the Western world of today.
Paul starts by sharing Gods pedagogical wisdom: On the contrary, there is a given agenda of accommodaPraise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, tion. Little by little, step by step, you are forced to adjust
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, your conviction received from the Word of God. Sociwho comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can com- ety and church must be ruled, not by God-given orders
fort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves according to His revelation, but by democracy.
receive from God (2 Cor. 1:34). Troubles seem to be
For its convention in 2005, the Church of Sweden
unavoidable, but God is a comforter in such situations. published a book named Democracy as a Successive RevWe somehow see a glance of the theology of the cross; one elation. Horrible reading, I must say! The given revelation
of the true marks of Christianity is certainly the cross of Gods Word is emptied, and instead human efforts
sufferings, hardship, etc. However, the message of victory are in progress to determine faith and life in society
and glory are present as well. But thanks be to God, who and Church. In Sweden we know the results. For examalways leads us as captives in Christs triumphal proces- ple, same-sex relationships and marriages have been
sion and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of legitimate from 2009 onwards. Such a program is most
him everywhere (2:14). It is an aroma of salvation and contradictory to the given agenda of the apostle Paul. He
85
is bound to the given revelation of God; woe to him if he In other words, a clear conviction and confession of the
does not preach the Gospel! We have renounced secret Word of God! And in accordance with our Lutheran
and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we Confession we teach and condemn in a similar way, as
distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the apostle Paul puts it to his son Titus, concerning the
the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyones ministry of an elder/overseer: He must hold firmly to the
conscience in the sight of God (4:2).
trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can
In Romans, Paul gives an admonition as far as this encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who
matter is concerned: I urge you, brothers and sisters, in oppose it (Titus 1:9).
view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacAlong with this God-given authority based upon
rifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and Scripture, the apostle Paul also includes a sense of humproper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this bleness: Examine yourselves to see whether you are in
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ
Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test? For
is his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:12).
we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the
It is evident that this is not only a human affair, but truth (13:5, 9). Somehow, 2 Corinthians is like a manual
that there is a spiritual battle going on. The god of this for church workers in times of hardship and persecution.
age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they It is not only a defense marked by apologetic rhetoric, but
cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of it is filled with an attitude on the offense the proclaChrist, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4). And again it mation of the Gospel. In chapter 5 we have a wonderful
is emphasized concerning the given
passage about the ministry of reconministry: What we preach is not
ciliation: For Christs love compels
We
somehow
see
a
ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,
us, because we are convinced that
and ourselves as your servants for
glance of the theology of one died for all, and therefore all died
Jesus sake (4:5).
the cross; one of the true All this is from God, who reconMeanwhile, there is not much of
ciled us to himself through Christ
marks
of
Christianity
is
human boosting as far as this minand gave us the ministry of reconcilcertainly the cross
istry is concerned: We have this
iation: that God was reconciling the
sufferings,
hardship,
etc.
treasure in jars of clay to show that
world to himself in Christ, not countthis all-surpassing power is from
ing peoples sins against them. And
However, the message
God and not from us (4:7). And
he has committed to us the message
of victory and glory are
furthermore, the apostle shares a
of reconciliation. We are therefore
present
as
well.
most contradictory and paradoxical
Christs ambassadors, as though God
experience a catalogue of contrawere making his appeal through us.
dictions: pressed, not crushed; perplexed, not in despair; We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God.
persecuted, not abandoned; struck down, not destroyed. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
It is a death and life relationship and agenda as far as the him we might become the righteousness of God (5:14,
God-given ministry is concerned! Other catalogues of 1821).
paradoxes are listed in 6:410 and 11:2131.
We endure in hope in the West and beyond, as far as
How do you approach such a difficult context when the ministry is concerned, by following in the footsteps of
Christian doctrines and ethics are questioned? Well, Paul the apostle Paul. Let me summarize what we have touched
addresses such a situation in the following way: The upon concerning the ministry:
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
1. God the Comforter comforts us in order that we will
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
comfort others.
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every preten2. Christs triumphal procession continues, although the
sion that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and
ministry is full of paradoxes.
we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
3. Our competence comes from God, ministering a new
Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of discovenant.
obedience, once your obedience is complete (10:46).
86
4. We carry out a transparent ministry in true faith and

good conscience, without accommodation.
5. A spiritual war is at hand. The victory is given when
Jesus Christ is proclaimed as Lord and every thought is
made captive to the obedience of Christ.
6. Humbleness and self-examination are healthy signs of
ministers.
7. All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself
through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Therefore we do not lose heart (4:1, 16). May God
grant us to be faithful in the given ministry until Jesus
Christ comes in glory! Glory be to the Father and to the
Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is
now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The Right Rev. Roland Gustafsson is presiding bishop of the
Mission Province in Sweden.
87
How is the Lutheran Church

in Tanzania recognizing and
Celebrating the
Reformation Rightly:
Remembrance, Repentance and Rejoicing
rejoicing in the Reformation?
by Joseph Makala
e have reasons for the Lutheran Church

to rejoice in the Reformation. These reasons
are the Churchs fast growth, Divine Service,
harmony with the government and diaconal work. On
the other hand, the Lutheran Church in Africa today is
not what it used to be. In so many areas the traditional
divine service is changing: technologically, educationally,
politically and culturally. The development of these areas
compels changes to the traditional ways the Lutheran
Church functions. For this reason we have differences in
responding to the joy from our Lord, Jesus Christ.
2. The Lords Supper and Koinonia
1. Baptism and Witness
3. The Word of God and Confession and Absolution
Christian worship is attended strongly by children,

youth and adults. This is different from the other parts
of the globe. The number of divine service participants is
increasing day by day. This joy of the first Church and the
Church of Reformation results in the same joy day by day:
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with
glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added to their number
day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:4647).
The Christian Church in Africa is seeking to evangelize It is correct here to stress that the Word of God and Conand disciple large multitudes of people in Africa today. fession and Absolution are valued as Gods gifts for Africa.
A case study can be taken from the
All truth and error must be judged
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanby the written Word of God through
The Gospel is
zania, South East of Lake Victoria
faith, as Paul writes in Romans: May
relevant to men and
Diocese, where the Church increases
the God of hope fill you with all joy
women in every
with thousands of new Christians per
and peace in believing, so that by the
year. We are full of joy, the joy that
society in Africa
power of the Holy Spirit you may
comes from God (the means of grace).
because Gods message abound in hope (Rom. 15:13). The
True joy comes through Baptism. This
Gospel in its context is preached and
is addressed to
results in the rapid growth of the
taught every day in many ways. The
mankind in need.
Church in Africa, specifically in ShinGospel is relevant to men and women
yanga, Tanzania. This rapid growth is
in every society in Africa because
an amazing act of God, making heaven and earth joyful. Gods message is addressed to mankind in need. The
The most joy of all comes from our Lord, as it is written in people who receive the Word receive it with joy, singing
Luke: The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, and dancing. There is giant growth of the Gospel and the
even the demons are subject to us in your name! And he Church in Africa.
said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents 4. Harmony with the state
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and The churches are working in harmony with the State. In
nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in some areas there are religious conflicts and so they have
this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that challenges when the State is so closely associated with
traditional religion. This brings big problems between the
your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:1720).
88
Church and the State. An example is the practice by some

members of sorcery in parliament meetings. The good
news is that most of the leaders in Africa accept the Good
News that the Savior and King of Kings was born for all
people, as the angel said: Fear not, for behold, I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you:
you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and
lying in a manger (Luke 2:10-12).
told by young and old, of the effects of this unseen force.

Examples of this are the killing of albinos to achieve riches
and success, and the killing of older women with red eyes,
in the belief that the red eyes are a sign of a witch. Africa
is a part of the world that experiences the mystical powers
of unseen forces. Pagan religious belief has been hard to
eliminate in lands where the Gospel has been preached
for centuries. These are examples from every part of
Africa. African churches are still looking for these brothers who are still in the darkness, like lost sheep. As far as
rejoicing is concerned, we need to look for these broth5. The response to our joy is diaconal work.
ers and sisters who are lost so that our rejoicing can be
Inevitably churches in Africa accept the charge to serve in full. A vivid example Luke gives is Jesus parable of the
the needy in their homes as an extended family. Chris- lost sheep: What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if
tian families extend this service as a joy in serving Christ he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in
through works of mercy to their neighbors. The clear hope the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he
and motivation for works of mercy has its origin from the finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulScripture itself, which gives clear hope
ders, rejoicing. And when he comes
and promise: Then the King will say
home, he calls together his friends and
to those on his right, Come, you who
The Word of God
his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice
are blessed by my Father. Inherit the
with me, for I have found my sheep
and Confession and
kingdom prepared for you from the
Absolution are valued that was lost. Just so, I tell you, there
foundation of the world. For I was
will be more joy in heaven over one
as Gods gifts for
hungry and you gave me food, I was
sinner who repents than over nineAfrica.
thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
ty-nine righteous persons who need
stranger and you welcomed me, I was
no repentance (Luke 15: 47).
naked and you clothed me, I was sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Pentecostalism and false teaching
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when Today there is a cry throughout Africa for a genudid we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give ine Divine Service, which is truly rooted in the lives of
you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and wel- the indigenous people and in the roots of our Lutheran
come you. Or naked and clothe you? And when did we Fathers. The problems of Pentecostalism are essentially
see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will the same all over Africa. The churches in Africa receive
answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the gifts of Jesus with physical joy, through singing and
the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Matt. dancing. However, many of them use the extremes of
25:3440).
Pentecostalism, clinging to the Scriptures as the reason
In this joyful moment there are things that make it dif- for doing so: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
ficult for Africa and Tanzania to rejoice the Reformation patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
celebration properly:
self-control; against such things there is no law (Gal.
5:2223). Apart from the grace of God found in Jesus
African traditional religions
Christ our Lord there is no hope, even though we sacrifice
Missionaries who work in Africa almost inevitably hear, ourselves in a physical joy.
and some see, the practice of traditional religions. Some
of them very recently saw a situation where newly con- Terrorists
verted Christians were wrestling with issues of charm The practice of terrorism is widespread all over the world,
after baptism. Witchcraft and sorcery are great tempta- and this creates fear in African churches. The killing of
tions to African societies. Reliance upon the ancestors is a pastors and those who witness to Jesus name has become
felt need during times of crisis. There are endless stories, more frequent throughout the world. Christians in Africa
89
still have no other word from anyone other than the Word
of God, which, however, looks like a passive response:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse
them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those
who weep (Rom. 12:14-15), and from John: Truly, truly,
I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will
rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn
into joy (John 16:20).
opinions, leaders and different interpretations of what the

Bible says. This issue will take a long time to resolve.
We believe that The Lutheran ChurchMissouri
Synod and the Lutheran Church in Africa need to identify
the best work that can be contributed to Lutheran African
churches so they may rejoice in this time of the need for
another Reformation. Thank you for your attention.
Diseases
The Rev. Emmanuel Joseph Makala is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, South East of Lake
Victoria Diocese.
The HIV pandemic, malaria and ebola are some of the diseases that afflict Africa. They affect many of the Christians
in our churches. The Church needs prayer and support
to rescue some of our friends in Africa. We keep asking
Gods mercy in Africa so as to rescue them from diseases,
and we take comfort from the Scriptures: So also you
have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts
will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In
that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to
you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give
it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name.
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (John
16:2224).
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is a trial in Africa. It is still illegal to put
talking about homosexuality into an agenda in societies
and especially in the Church. It is shame to mention it.
We are very sorry to tell you that this is a difficult agenda
to take to Africa. But it is a trial encroaching some of
the churches in Africa. Peter writes: In this you rejoice,
though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been
grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness
of your faith more precious than gold that perished
though it is tested by fire may be found to result in
praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and
rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your
souls (1 Peter 1:69). The situation began to change in
Africa in this last decade, as laws and public policies that
discriminated on the basis of sexual preference were successfully challenged in the courts by gay-rights advocates
and not from the Church itself. This is a difficult issue
for the churches, to allow gay and lesbian rights in the
churches in Africa. The stress of this comes from many
directions, including money, power, different views and
90
How are we supposed to rejoice,
Lutheran Witness
in Turkey
by Ville Typp
if the churches in Asia and

many other places are in ruins?
How are we going to celebrate
the Reformation if the message
spreading everywhere is antiChristian?
want to begin with the words that St. Paul has brothers and sisters, the pain shared by the whole Body
included in his first epistle to the Corinthians: The of Christ.
churches in Asia greet you (1 Cor. 16:19). The
On the other hand, we are presented with a very difchurches in Asia St. Paul was talking about were located ferent picture the modern civilized Islam, a religion
in todays Turkey. The same churches were addressed and of peace and prosperity, high ethical values, tight family
also admonished in the Book of Revelation by the Lord, bonds and a society with networks of mutual support and
Jesus Christ. Some of you may have visited the places of help. How should we place ourselves in this scenario as
those churches and found nothing but ruins. It seems that Lutherans and as churchmen? Should we stay and live in
the Lord really removed the lamp stand of unrepentant peace with the peaceful version of Islam? The majority of
churches.
individual Muslims really do want to live in peace with
In our days, the same region is 99 percent Muslim. their neighbors regardless of their religion. Or should we
Once the great center of the Christendom, the marvelous fight against those who are willing to go to war?
Hagia Sophia Church of ConstantiDuring the Reformation, same
nople, has served for centuries as a
questions were on the agenda. Germosque, and nowadays its a museum.
many was under the threat of a
We are saints in
History teaches us that the glorious
Turkish invasion. Ottoman armies
Christ, but we know
heritage of the past or the great minwere twice at the gates of Vienna.
that
we
are
constantly
istry of today may lose its value if we
The war was there. While Luther was
sinners in ourselves,
dont have the blessing of our Lord for
clearly against Crusades motivated
and we are not going
tomorrow, if we cease to hear how the
as religious campaigns by the Roman
Word of God calls us to repentance
Catholic hierarchy, he encouraged the
to be anything else in
and faith on a daily basis. Thats why
emperor to carry out his responsibility
this world.
it is good to come together under the
of defending the country militarily.
theme of Celebrating the ReformaBut how would Luther advice
tion Rightly: Remembrance, Repentance and Rejoicing.
the churchmen? Speaking about the pope, Luther states:
Today, we are focusing on rejoicing. But how are The pope curses those who supply Turks and Saracens
we supposed to rejoice if the churches in Asia and many with iron and wood so that one would think that he honother places are in ruins? How are we going to celebrate estly desires to do good for Christendom. If he, however,
the Reformation if the message spreading everywhere were Christs vicar, then he would get moving, go there,
is anti-Christian? At least in the Western countries and and preach the Gospel to the Turks, being commitmedia, Islam is presented to us, for the most part, in two ted to it with body and soul. That would be a Christian
ways. We see videos about violent warriors in black out- way to challenge the Turks and to increase and defend
fits, ready to torture and murder anyone they meet. We Christendom.1
hear the news about Islamic armies rolling over villages
and towns, spreading terror and death. Thats the horri- 1 WA 8:708.27209.8. Volker Stolle, The Church Comes from All Nations:
Luther Texts on Mission (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003),
fying reality for some of our African and Middle Eastern 67. While speaking about Turks, Luther is usually referring to them as
91
The Christian way would be to get moving, to go there

and preach the Gospel, being committed to it with body
and soul. Preaching the Gospel is also the only way of
bringing true peace for the people, who since the Fall are
in a hopeless war against their Creator and against each
other. Preaching the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ
and praying the same also for the hostile enemies has
always been the way of Christian witness.
it lost sight of the fact that missions had to emerge directly

from the church itself. They forgot that missions is a task
which God gave to the church and for which He uniquely
equipped it. It is the church, and not various and sundry
para-church ministries, which is the God-ordained means
through which the Great Commission was expected to be
fulfilled.5 One rare exception of that era was the Lutheran
Orient Mission Society, which reached the local majority
people with their own language and focused on establishHistory of the Lutheran witness
ing Lutheran congregations among them. Unfortunately
What, then, have the Lutherans done? Despite the teach- this ministry lasted only five years and was wiped away
ings of Luther and the eager attempts of some of his by World War I. While the years of war and years between
followers at the sixteenth century, not
the wars reshaped the world, the
very much success has been reportChristian witness was almost non-exed.2 The first Lutheran pastor that
We all are sinners.
istent in Turkey.
I am aware of was sent to Turkey
We all need Jesus.
The situation today
from Sweden at 1709. He and subseNot just once but
quent pastors were serving mostly the
Luther, in his own time, complained
constantly.
Scandinavian community in Constanthat the Turkish government does
tinople up until the last quarter of the
not allow Christians to come together
nineteenth century.3
in public, and no one can openly confess Christ or preach
During the nineteenth century, the majority of the or teach against Mohammed.6 This was the case for a
Protestants in Turkey were involved in the so-called long time, and remains so in many Muslim countries. In
Great Experiment. This mission strategy aimed to reach Turkey, however, at least for the time being, it is possible
the Muslim majority through vitalizing the Christian for Christians to come together in public; it is possible to
minorities, the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches, openly confess Christ and preach the Gospel.
which were existing in the Ottoman Empire. This was
This is a considerably new development. The modern
a ministry on a large scale, consisting, for example, of Turkish State was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in
465 schools in 1905. The Great Experiment managed to 1923. Since that time the state has been basically secular.
empower Christian minorities and form some Protestant Muslim people were governed by a secular state, which
Churches consisting of Orthodox converts, but generally defined the limits and controlled the religion. During last
the Muslims were not reached with Gospel. Rather iron- 12 years, however, Turkey has changed a lot. Under the
ically, the Muslim majority was insulted and humiliated current regime, secularism has been torn down step-bythrough the support directed to the Christian minorities.4 step and religion has gained more space in the society.
Peter Pikkert, a long-term Baptist missionary to the This means, of course, that Islam is doing better.
region, criticizes this approach: When the missionary
Even if we may not welcome all of these developments
community sought to exercise a Christian influence on with joy, the increasing freedom of religion has actusociety by establishing educational and medical facilities, ally meant more freedom for Christians too. Turkey has
become increasingly tolerant towards other religions. Two
recent examples: a couple of months ago the Syrian coma religious entity, not so much as an ethnic group of people. For our
discussion, it would be appropriate to read Turks and Saracens to
munity in Istanbul was given permission to build a new
mean Islam.
church. Such a thing has not happened in the era of the
2 Ingemar berg, Luther and World Mission: A Historical and
modern Turkey. In the beginning of this year a Christian
Systematical Study (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007),
498499.
TV-channel started to broadcast 24/7 through a govern3 Sture Theolin, The Swedish Palace in Istanbul (Istanbul: Yapi Kredi
ment-controlled satellite. This means that any citizen
Yayinlari, 2000), 156.
P. Pikkert, Protestant Missionaries to the Middle East: Ambassadors
of Christ or Culture? (Hamilton, Ontario: WEC Canada, 2008), 54. The
Journal of Lutheran Mission 2 (2014) has published a concise review on
Pikkerts book by Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver.
4
92
Pikkert, 264.
AE 46:175; Stolle, 68.
surfing channels on his receiver may end up to a Chris- church according to their various vocations.
tian channel by change. (She does not need to go turn
What can we do as Lutherans? One may ask, why
her antenna and tune her receiver for a different satellite.) should Lutherans should engage Islam? If so many others
Most people are also open and willing to engage in openly have tried and often failed, and we are so few, why should
confessional discussions about religion. In a barber shop, we waste time and resources for such a fruitless endeavor?
in a taxi, in a caf any place you dont need to search
I think that as confessional Lutherans, we have been
for an opportunity to share the Gospel. When meeting given so much to rejoice about, we have been given so
new people, the first or second question I face is usually much that we, too, certainly have something to offer. Most
about my occupation. Im a pastor. And thats enough. importantly, we have the inspired Word of God. We have
I have never met a pastor before. Can you tell me about the firm ground that never fails. We have the clear conyour faith? Finally I have an opportunity to ask some- fession that correctly expresses the teaching of the Bible.
one how really knows about Christianity! Where is your And we dont just have it. We know it, we trust it, we live
church? May I come to church even if Im a Muslim?
with it. We dont need to invent it. Its there already.
For me, these questions tell about the huge need for
As Lutherans, we have Jesus Christ, who is present in
witness. We know that everyone who calls on the name the Word and the Sacraments, in the very center of our
of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can people call faith and congregational life. Thats why we dont need to
on someone they have not believed? And how can they depend on ourselves, on our own strength or lack of it,
believe in someone they have not
on our own faith or lack of it, on our
heard about? And how can they hear
own love or lack of it. As Lutherans,
without someone preaching? And
we have the distinction between Law
We are saved by
how can they preach unless they are
and Gospel as a key rule for proclaimChrist and given all
sent? (Rom. 10:1315).
ing the Word of God. This is really
these treasures in
The percentage of the Christians
something that we should not underChrist,
so
that
we
can
in Turkey is about 0.2 percent. Among
estimate. A number of Muslims have
freely use them, rejoice left their religion just to become folthe population of 75 million, there are
about 150.000 Christians. Around 95
lowers of another law carrying some
about them and also
percent of these Christians consist of
name of Christianity. A number of
in order that we may
ethnic minorities speaking and worTurkish-speaking Christians today
generously share them, live in congregations where they are
shipping in the Greek, Armenian and
both with our next
Syrian languages, which makes the
not nurtured with Gospel but burdoor neighbors and
Church and the Gospel practically
dened with their own works or lack
inaccessible for the Turkish-speakof them. Why wouldnt we share the
with those who are far
ing majority. There is only a handful
clear preaching of Gospel with them?
away.
of Christians worshipping in Turkish
As Lutherans, we also have the
language, a variety of Protestants and
rich traditional liturgy. Liturgy is
some Roman Catholics (around 0.007 percent percent of something that everyone in a Muslim country is able to
total population). Turkey has been correctly described as understand. If you have been to a mosque, you know
the largest unreached nation in the world.7
that prayer and worship is very physical act comprising
Since 2002 there has been a Turkish speaking Lutheran the whole body. Each and every movement has a specific
congregation in Istanbul. Istanbul Lutheran Church was meaning, even to the point that an outward act becomes
officially founded in 2004. Today the church body con- more important than inward faith. In Turkey, the people
sists of four Turkish-speaking congregations located in are also aware of the old traditional churches, all of which
Turkey and in Bulgaria. This church body follows a locally have rich liturgy.
adapted three-year lectionary and Turkish liturgy, proIts not one or two people who have come and stayed in
duces and translates Lutheran literature and hymns and the Church because of the liturgy. Liturgy extensively uses
aims to witness to Christ through each member of the the Word of God in prayers and hymns. Liturgy expresses
Gods holiness, and in front of Him we confess our sins
7 Pikkert, 243.
and sing our praises. Liturgy conveys His overwhelming
93
grace, personally delivered to us in Absolution and Holy and also in order that we may generously share them,
Communion. Liturgy teaches and guards the faith from both with our next door neighbors and with those who
generation to generation and binds us together with the are far away. We are not going to run out of Gospel by
saints across time and place.
sharing it.
Even if some may not feel the following as an advanNow that we are celebrating the Reformation rightly
tage, I want to list that as Lutherans, we are sinners. We through remembrance, repentance and rejoicing, I want
may never impress a pious Muslim with our highly eth- to conclude with a quote from Luther: Everyone must
ical life, by expressing love or hospitality. Rather, he may truly rejoice if someone could lead people from the Turkexceed our expectations with his
ish faith and from the devil to God,
highly appreciable conduct of life. We
from sin to righteousness. It would
We are not going to
are saints in Christ, but we know that
truly be the highest and most costly
run
out
of
Gospel
by
we are constantly sinners in ourselves,
work.8 We are looking forward to the
and we are not going to be anything
day when we will be rejoicing with our
sharing it.
else in this world. Thats the position
Lord, Jesus Christ and all the saints
we share deeply with every Muslim.
from every nation, tribe, people and
We all are sinners. We all need Jesus. Not just once but language including Turkish.
constantly. The opportunity to confess my sins and shortcomings and be forgiven by God makes the difference.
The Rev. Ville Typp is the head of the Istanbul Lutheran
We are saved by Christ and given all these treasures in
Church and pastor of Istanbul Lutheran Congregation in
Christ, so that we can freely use them, rejoice about them
Turkey.
8
94
berg, 485.
Mission occurs where the Word
The Lutheran Church

in Africa: Thirty
Years of Growth
is faithfully proclaimed and God

calls, gathers, enlightens and
sanctifies through the power of
the Holy Spirit.
by Mike Rodewald
The Lutheran church bodies that form the collectively named Lutheran Church in Africa have as a whole experienced rapid
growth in the last thirty years, not only as widely acknowledged in numbers, but also capacity in mission effort and theological
acumen. The emergence of Africa-initiated Lutheran church bodies brings a new growth addition to those planted primarily
through western mission societies.
Introduction
hen one speaks of growth, the on growth will tend to be exploratory rather than definiprimary focus may be assumed to be that tive. The author apologizes to those church bodies, groups
of numerical growth. That is certainly and institutions whose growth realities may be equally
important, as its opposite is decline. Africa now has some important as those mentioned but are not discussed in
of the numerically largest Lutheran church bodies in the this paper. This was not by intention rather by limitation.
world. However, growth may occur
Gods mission
in other ways that are not as readily
The growth of
The growth of Lutheran church bodies
quantifiable but also contribute to the
and membership in Africa is astoundLutheran church
overall growth picture of those who
identify as both African and Lutheran
bodies and membership ing and can only be understood
in light of previous generations of
on the continent.
in Africa is astounding Lutheran Christians around the world
It must be noted that reference to
and can only be
participating in Gods mission. This
the Lutheran Church in Africa does
understood
in
light
of
understanding of mission sees God as
not refer to a single entity or unified
the initiator of mission the Father
previous generations
structure. Lutheran church bodies
1
on the continent were each formed
of Lutheran Christians sends the 2 Son; Father and Son send
the Spirit; Father, Son and Spirit send
through national and ethnic histoaround the world
the people of God, or the Church, into
ries, the motivations and methods
participating in Gods
the world.3 It is reflected in the term
of founders and influences of church
mission.
missio dei. We acknowledge that any
bodies outside of Africa. The result is
accomplishment in mission is Gods,
a multitude of forms for church polity
not
ours,
a
theological
concept foundational to the formaand governance, as well as practice and approaches to
tion of the Lutheran Church. Luther wrote, For God has
theology that resist categorizing.
Looking at the larger picture of growth among Luther- always been accustomed to collect a church for Himself
4
ans in Africa, the authors own limited perspective is even among the heathen, and, Therefore God gathered
acknowledged. Africa as a geographical whole is three a church in the world not only from the one family of the
and a half times the area of the continental United States
divided into 54 nations and containing over 3,000 ethnic
groups. No matter how long or where one lives and serves
on the continent, there is much that one will not know
and data that is not widely available. Thus any discussion
John 10:15; 17:18, 21.
John 14:26; 15:26, Luke 24:49.
John 17:1823; 20:21.
Luthers Works (American Edition), ed. J. Pelikan and H. Lehman, (St.

Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1955ff), 8:135, hereafter referred
to as AE.
4
95
patriarchs but from all nations to which the Word made Scripture in ones language opens up a whole new audiits way.5 While the Church as the people of God may be ence for the Word.
the instrument, mission occurs where the Word makes its
Translation of Scripture into the mother tongues of
way. This is certainly the case in Africa where the details African peoples not only has facilitated numerical growth
of each church body vary through different timelines and of the Church in Africa, it has inhibited the growth of
relationships. Ultimately, where the Word is faithfully such as Islam. Islam spreads on the basis of its untransproclaimed, God calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies latable Scripture9 and where Gods Word is not available
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
through ones mother tongue, local beliefs, including
The role of mother tongue Bible translation
Christianity, are easily subsumed. The engulfing by Islam
Translation of the Bible and other materials into of the once vibrant early Church in northern Africa
mother tongues has created a foundation and played a is often attributed to a lack of Scripture in the mother
huge role in the growth of the Lutheran
tongue (Berber) of those in churches
Church in Africa. African miswhere leadership and church life was
While
the
Church
sion thinker and theologian Kwame
accomplished in Latin. Where transas the people of
Bediako claimed, There is probably
lations exist Gehez in Ethiopia and
no more important single explanation
Coptic in Egypt the Church remains
God may be the
for the massive presence of Christianto this day.10 Such remains the situation
instrument, mission
ity on the African continent than the
where Gods Word, translatable and
occurs where the
availability of the Scriptures in many
purposeful in meaning, reaches out to
Word
makes
its
way.
African languages. By rejecting the
Africans through their own languages
notion of a sacred language for the
and related conceptual constructs.
Bible, Christianity makes every translation of its ScripThirty years of growing
tures substantially and equally the Word of God.6
Leaders of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane When one looks at the journeys of each Lutheran church
Yesus (EECMY) acknowledge the translation effort of body in Africa from beginning to end, the details threaten
such partners as the Summer Institute of Linguistics as to overwhelm. National history, ethnic history, mission
foundational to outreach of the Church and write, The history and numbers interact to form widely varying
Church [EECMY] believes that every person and every forms of Lutheran Christianity in formation, practice and
community have [sic] the grace to hear the message of theological identity.
To explore the growth of the last three decades, it is
the gospel in the language of their heart and cultural contempting
to think primarily of numbers. That is certainly
7
text. The EECMY currently facilitates thirteen different
one aspect but Lutheran church bodies in Africa are
mother tongue projects with its partners.
New and emerging Lutheran church bodies find growing in other ways, most especially in the ability to
themselves earlier in the mother tongue evangelism pro- provide training for church leaders and in the manner in
cess. Pastor John Bundor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran which churches are initiated. Thus this paper additionally
Church in Sierra Leone (where the completed Kisi Bible looks at growth apart from membership numbers.
was dedicated in 2014) writes, People that depended on Assessing growth
others to read the Scriptures for them have now become
It is helpful to understand the context within which
independent readers. They are now reading scriptures in
Lutheran churches in Africa are growing if one wishes
their mother tongue and they are also preaching to others
to assess growth and its meanings. An initial approach
in the mother tongue.8 One notes that the availability of
toward assessing the growth and maturity of foreign
5
AE 6:227.
Kwame Bediako. Christianity in Africa, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh

University Press, 1995), 62.
6
The EECMY Department for Mission and Theology Annual Report

2014, CMCR meeting in Addis Ababa, Feb. 2014, 23.
7
John Bundor, Zealous for Evangelism, LBT Literacy Report

(September 2013).
8
96
Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christianity: The Gospel beyond the

West, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 120.
9
Mike Rodewald, Islam and Christian Mission in Africa LBT

e-Journal of Mission Studies Vol. 3 #3 (Sep, 2008), 32. Also Philip Noss,
Bible Translation in History and into the Future Lausanne World
Pulse Archives (Sept. 2009), http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/
themedarticles-php/1197/09-2009, accessed on 11 March 2015.
10
mission results is attributed to Henry Venn, head of the pendence is not the objective of most individual church
Anglican Church Mission Society from 18411872, and bodies or their members. Mutually beneficial relationRufus Anderson, head of the American Board of Com- ships are expected to continue as long as relationships
missioners for Foreign Missions from 18321866. These are conducive to both. The overall result in Africa is that
nineteenth-century mission administrators saw the weak- of interdependence between Lutheran church bodies as
nesses of dependence resulting from western mission partners in governance, propagation and support rather
method of the times. Though not living in close to prox- than that of self-reliance. However, the principles themimity to either each other or the foreign mission context, selves remain important markers through which to
they came to mutual conclusions and proposed criteria observe the collective growth of Lutherans on the contitoward assessing an independent indigenous church as nent in the last thirty years.
the goal of church-planting. The results became known
It can be noted that another marker, self-theologizas the three-self principles, i.e., that a true indigenous ing,13 has made its appearance in the years after Venn and
church should be self-governing, self-propagating and Anderson. Similar to the previous three-self principle
self-supporting.11 These early criteria both informed and markers, it is not helpful with independence as its object,
reflected the worldview of Western mission thinkers of but its ability illustrates the growing capacity of Lutherans
the time and allowed them to assess
in Africa and will be discussed later in
their mission-daughter church bodies.
this paper.
The three-selfs quickly come into
Where the Word is Growing in numbers
question in the light of todays context
faithfully proclaimed, It is difficult to provide exact numbers
in Africa. Indigenous independence
in the African context where numbers
God calls, gathers,
itself is an expectation assigned from
often dont matter as much as presence.
abroad. Western mission societies of the
enlightens and
Newer church bodies do not have the
past tended to transplant the familiar
sanctifies through
management capacity to count memforms of their own more resource-rich
the power of the
bership the need for numbers many
contexts into Africa. Imported forms
Holy
Spirit.
times overwhelmed by other priorities.
and structures required more to mainResults from self-reporting can depend
tain than available in the local context.
upon who is being asked. Thus for many
This created an expectation toward
of
the
new
and
emerging
church bodies, there are only
self-support while at the same time subtly encouraged
the emerging church to depend upon others to maintain estimates that may have wide variance. The data available
the inherited structures. Self-propagation is an important in Wikipedia makes an attempt and provides a count of
14
marker but not necessarily a sign of independence when 20,752,232 Lutherans for Africa. However, the specific
one notes indigenous churches in other parts of the world country numbers in the same data differ in other sources
in decline and debatably in need of assistance from others exhibiting that even arriving at such a precise number is
to revive. Self-governance as applied on the African con- the result of varying entries. What is clear is that many
tinent is not solely of local mandate. Even as individual Lutheran bodies on the continent are trending upward in
church bodies may operate within systems mandated by membership growth.
The importance of each individual mission effort
government, constitution and by-laws, functional govercannot
be over-emphasized. Four of the largest Lutheran
nance is shared among church leaders of different bodies
Church bodies in the world now are on the continent of
in a consultation and consensus process.
In the end, Venn and Andersons approach and result- Africa. The EECMY (Ethiopia) grew from an estimated
15
ing expectation for indigenous independence clashes with 20,000 in 1959 to 7,280,622 in 2014. The Evangelical
African values where reliance on community is valued
and independence is discouraged.12 Exclusivity and inde- 13 Bosch, 451452.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheranism_by_region, accessed on
March 15, 2015.
14
David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in the Theology

of Mission. (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 1991), 331
11
12
Philip Ntsimane, The fragile identity of being Lutheran and African,

Studia Historieae Ecclesiasticae, (Oct. 2010): 56.
The EECMY reported 7,280,622 members from The EECMY

Department for Mission and Theology Annual Report 2014, presented at
CMCR meeting in Addis Ababa, Feb. 2014.
15
97
Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) reported membership of 6,139,879 in 2012 compared to 5,825,312 in
2011 and 5,601,217 in 2010.16 The FLM (Madagascar)
established in 1950 with 180,000 members, now has an
estimated 34,000,000.17 The Lutheran Church of Christ
in Nigeria reports 2.2 million.18 Others are collectively
impressive. The result of each mission effort forms a
numerical piece of the big picture, some smaller and some
larger19 and feeds the overall number.
Growing in mission
Second, it is easier for African immigrants or those

who study abroad to maintain closer relationship and ties
in their homelands than in the past. Many find homes in
Lutheran church bodies in their new homes and present
direct-mission opportunities outside of previously established church structures, mission boards and societies.
The result has been widely varying relationships
and methods for mission in Africa, diffuse rather than
focused, with those identifying themselves as Lutheran
and African having a wide perception of what that might
mean. Many understand themselves as Lutheran through
their history with other Lutherans rather than because of
an intentional theological identity. Church bodies have
been formed in multiple ways that for the purposes of this
paper are broadly categorized into three: Western mission-daughter, Africa-initiated and
direct-mission short-term method.
How and where new church bodies are formed provides

another marker to growth.
When those from Western Lutheran churches think
about African mission, many picture churches planted
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by foreign
missionaries sent from the mission
boards/societies of Western church
From the introduction Western mission-daughter Lubodies. This is certainly one way
of the Gospel message
theran church bodies
through which many in Africa trace
Many Lutheran church bodies in
to the ability to
their histories. But advancements
Africa, especially the older ones,
in the last three decades in comwrestle with identity
point to their beginnings as the result
munication and ease of travel have
as Lutheran Christians
of missionaries sent from mission
encouraged different methods of
in Africa, the process
boards/societies in Europe or North
Christian witness into Africa. New
toward
creating
America.20 The Ethiopian Evangeliways of relationship for mission have
cal Church Mekane Yesus21 is a good
theological acumen
developed.
First, it is easier for Western
does not come without example. The EECMY formed in 1959
through a merger of Western mission
church members who have never
outside assistance.
society efforts into four semi-autonlived in the African context to
omous synods with a membership of
directly discover and define mission
22
opportunity from their own contexts. This has resulted in around 20,000 and adopted Scripture and the Unaltered
a bloom of visitors on what have been called short-term Augsburg Confession as their doctrinal basis in the constitution.23 In 2014, the EECMY reported an 8 percent
mission trips.
20
ELCT Press Release, (Feb. 2013) accessed at http://www.elct.org/

news/2013.02.005.html on March 11, 2013.
16
The LWF page reports 3,000,000 at https://www.lutheranworld.org/

content/malagasy-lutheran-church; Wikipedia reports 4,000,000 at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malagasy_Lutheran_Church both accessed
on March 14, 2015.
17
http://www.lutheranworld.org/country/nigeria, accessed on March 14,

2015.
18
19
For example the estimated membership of mission-daughter

churches of the LCMS synodical mission church-planting efforts in
Africa are as follows: Lutheran Church of Nigeria (est. 100150,000),
Ev. Lutheran Church of Ghana (est. 3540,000), Ev. Lutheran Church
(and Synod) in Liberia (est. 1012,000), Eglise Ev. Lutherienne au
Guinea (est. 2,000), Eglise Ev. Lutherienne du Benin (est. 600), Eglise
Lutherienne du Togo (78,000), Evangelique Lutherienne Synode au
Cote dIvoire (est. 34,000). Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Sierra Leone (est. 34,000).
98
Some African Lutheran church bodies can point to being Africainitiated by virtue of extending invitations to western Lutheran mission
boards or societies to send missionaries to plant churches on the
continent. This in contrast to those discussed later as Africa-initiated
formed primarily through local African effort.
21
During discussion by the Founding Assembly, Lutheran was

left out of the new name for the merged church, the agreement
being that Luther had warned against such practice. This caused
those congregations planted by the SBVM (Swedish Lutheran
Mission Bible True Friends) to pull out of the agreement and
establish an independent church body in Dire Dawa, now consisting
of [an estimated 20,000 members in] six synods collectively
known as the Ethiopian Evangelical Lutheran Church. http://www.
ethiopianevangelicallutheran.org, accessed on March 11, 2015.
Magarsaa Gutaa. From a Humble Beginning to Advanced Standing: A
History of Mekane Yesus Seminary [1960-2010], Addis Ababa: Mekane
Yesus Seminary (2011), 1019.
22
23
Ibid., 15.
overall growth rate in their 28 synods consisting of 8,093

congregations; 3,703 preaching places; 3,226 pastors and
7,280,622 members, figures that make it a candidate for
the largest Lutheran church body in the world. Such
growth is attributed to the spiritual life of its members
rather than programs and strategy and one must note
that even within the EECMY, growth is uneven with
some synods reporting negative growth while one synod
reported a 33 percent increase in members.24
Other large church bodies in east and central Africa
have similar beginnings found in the merger of the results
of western mission societies. These include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), and the
Malagasy Lutheran Church (FLM) in Madagascar. They
are organized similarly and have experienced tremendous
growth in the past few years.
Others, smaller and too many to list exhaustively (see
appendix A), also trace their beginnings to the coming
of western missionaries. Individually they continue to
develop within various stages of growth or stagnation, but
the overall picture of western mission-daughter church
bodies on the African continent is one of membership
growth.
Africa-initiated Lutheran church bodies (AiLCs)

In recent years, a number of emerging Lutheran church
bodies can be identified as Africa-initiated. AiLCs are
newer generation Lutheran churches established primarily through the efforts of Africans rather than foreign
missionaries sent through western mission boards. The
Commanaute Evangelique Lutherienne au Congo-est
(CELCE), the Eglise Lutherienne du Kivu (ELKI), and
Eglise Chretienne Evangelique Lutherienne du Congo
(ECELCo, formerly Church of Congo) were each founded
by men who studied Lutheran theology in Tanzania
and then returned to the eastern part of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. The founding of the CELCE is typical,
its founder ordained by a bishop of the ELCT in Tanzania.
Upon returning to the DRC in 1977, this pastor registered
a church and mentored and ordained nine additional
pastors. By 2010, there were ten Lutheran congregations
with an estimated 10,000 members and headquarters near
Luvungi.25
Another new and emerging Lutheran church body,

the Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Burundi (EELBu)
,was initiated by the bishop of the The Eglise Evanglique
Luthrienne du Congo (EELCo) Kivu-Maniema diocese, circa 2008. The bishop visited across the border and
gathered members in the early 2000s. In 2010, there were
three preaching stations with 1800 members led by ten lay
evangelists. These evangelists were ordained in 2011.26
Another example of an emerging church body is the
Lutheran Church of Uganda (previously the Lutheran
Church Mission in Uganda). This body was initiated in
1993 when five lay leaders met a pastor from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ghana studying in Kenya. The
bishop of the ELCG visited Uganda and later sent two
evangelists supported by the ELCG and LCMS27 World
Mission funding. Currently there are 16 pastors, 128
congregations with about 20,000 members. Only about
10 percent of members speak languages of wider communication in rural areas. Ground-breaking for a new
seminary occurred in February 2014.28
The stories of the formation of Africa-initiated
Lutheran church bodies are as varied as they are
numerous the common thread being that they were
established primarily by African Lutherans with minimal
outside assistance.
Direct mission29 short-term method

Again in recent years, a number of Lutheran church
bodies have been formed from opportunities met by those
who do not live on the continent. This includes returning refugees and sometimes immigrants who became a
part of Lutheran congregations in other countries before
returning to their homes on visits. It also includes foreign
visitors on short-term trips.
As conflict or economic hardship dispersed peoples
from Africa, refugees and/or immigrants settled and
incorporated into Lutheran church bodies in their new
homes off the African continent. They sometimes found
interest and presented new friends with needs from their
homelands. Those returning used their ethnic relationManagement Team Report, June 2011), 5.
26
Ibid.
27
The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod
Mike Rodewald, Uganda Brief, (LCMS Office of International

Mission, March 2014).
28
The EECMY Department for Mission and Theology Annual Report

2014. Presented at CMCR meeting in Addis Ababa (Feb. 2014), 41.
24
https://lcmsinafrica.wordpress.com/central-africa, accessed on
8 March 2015. Also Pastoral Education Update Africa, (The
Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod Office of International Mission Africa
25
Direct-mission is defined as mission effort that occurs outside of

previously existing mission structures either by virtue of individual
efforts or the forming of a new organization with specific mission
purpose.
29
99
ships as a natural bridge to provide development and/

or proclaim the Gospel. The objects of these mission
efforts may or may not have been previously introduced
to Christianity but often there has been the introduction
of a Lutheran church into the community through those
visiting.
A second form of direct-mission effort occurs when
members of Lutheran churches in the West are presented
with opportunity in the African context by African visitors to their context. This may also happen as a response to
Internet pleas for assistance. As relationships are formed
and needs presented, Lutherans have formed themselves
into direct-mission efforts, including visits to Africa.
Eventually a Lutheran church may be formed where previously there was none, sometimes in an unreached area
but also sometimes resulting in a change of identity for a
non-Lutheran church.
An example of a mix of methods can be found in
South Sudan. The beginnings of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Sudan/South Sudan (ELCS/SS) occurred when
an Anglican priest directly contacted LCMS Lutherans and was introduced to Lutheran theology through
short-term visitors. Together they established a center in
Yambio among the Zande ethnic group. Around the same
time, refugee immigrants within the LCMS in Nebraska in
the United States formed the Sudanese Lutheran Mission
Society. They returned on short-term visits, establishing
Lutheran activity among the Nuer people. Eventually the
results of the two groups agreed to merge with the former
Anglican pastor serving as the first bishop until he passed
away in 2009. The Archbishop of the Lutheran Church
of Nigeria consecrated a new bishop in 2011. The new
bishop of the ELCS/SS had been ordained after studying
Lutheran theology in Tanzania as a refugee. Membership
of the ELCS/SS at the time was claimed as an estimated
1520,000 members with 27 ordained pastors trained
through varying institutions and/or methods and 80
evangelists.30
Summary
A complete list of bodies and/or groups of Lutherans who
have been formed through the various mission efforts
in Africa is elusive and such groups continue to emerge
to audiences of wider communication. Wikipedia lists
twenty-one separate Lutheran church bodies within the
Lutheran World Federation, the International Lutheran
30
Pastoral Education Update, 7.
100
Council or as unaffiliated. However, anyone conversant

with the continent and Lutheran mission as a whole, can
bring others to mind. Appendix A provides a list of 86 different Lutheran church bodies/groups that have emerged,
and this author acknowledges that there may be any
number that did not make the list.
Growing in theological capacity

The ability for self-theologizing31 is an important marker
when one observes capacity growth on the content.
Self-theologizing can be defined as working out the theological truths of Gods unchanging Word as applied to
ones own context. This capacity is highly desired if African Lutherans are to wrestle with the questions formed by
the African context rather than adopting the formulations
of others without thought. For example, Africans have
been challenged to respond biblically to western Lutheran
church bodies resolutions on same-sex issues.32 Ntsimane
notes that confessional African Lutherans find themselves
struggling with closed altar practice in a context where
barring a hungry person from partaking of a meal goes
against the core values of African hospitality.33 While
the results of such self-theologizing will be debated, the
emerging of such debate onto the wider world stage is
the result of the growing number of avenues that prepare
church workers to wrestle with the questions of being
Lutheran. From the introduction of the Gospel message
to the ability to wrestle with identity as Lutheran Christians in Africa, the process toward creating theological
acumen does not come without outside assistance such
assistance tending to retreat up the ladder as the local
church and institutions gain their own capacity.
This is illustrated in the following diagram noting
growth in theological acumen. Outside assistance,
whether from foreign missionaries, study abroad or
short-term visits, results in new local capacity. Local
capacity then takes over roles previously accomplished
through outside assistance, making the need for that
assistance less critical (i.e., it retreats up the ladder).
While foreign assistance may continue at all levels, the
actual need becomes no longer critical. The end result is a
growing ability to engage in theology and practice consistent within Lutheran identity.
31
Bosch, 451452.
32
See such as the Dodoma Statement of the Evangelical Lutheran

Church in Tanzania (2010) http://www.elct.org/news/2010.04.004.html,
accessed on March 12, 2015.
33
Ntsimane, 15.
With this as our understanding, we can

see that tremendous growth toward such
self-theologizing has occurred, indicated by
the number of emerging Lutheran theological
training efforts on the continent. Again they
are as varied as their histories, ages and relationships with others. Examples of the varied
efforts toward theological formation are as
follows:
The Commanaute Evangelique Lutherienne au Congo-Est (CELCE) in the eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo prepares its
pastors through a mentoring system. As of
2011, nine pastors had been ordained with a
further 15 planned for 2012.34
The Jonathan Ekong Memorial Lutheran
Seminary in Nigeria is owned and operated
by the Lutheran Church of Nigeria. Seminary completion is an eight-year process, the first two
years qualifying as an evangelist. After a three-year service, an additional three years of class are taken followed
by a two-year probationary status and ordination. As of
2011, JEMLS had 63 students and was seeking accreditation with the government.35 A Lutheran university is
planned.36
Tshwane Lutheran Seminary in South Africa is a
semi-independent Lutheran seminary jointly owned by
the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa, and the Mission
of Lutheran Churches (Germany) through a shareholding
agreement. The seminary is not accredited but degrees
are granted to qualifying students through an arrangement with nearby University of Pretoria (UP) through its
Department of Theology. In 2011 there were eleven students in pastoral preparation classes at the seminary and
four in higher studies at UP.37
The Mekane Yesus Seminary in Ethiopia was formed
as an entity of the EECMY in 1960 and is accredited by
the Accrediting Council for Theological Education in
Africa (ACTEA).38 In addition to the main seminary, the
EECMY Department of Mission and Theology reports
51 functioning Bible schools, including mobile Bible
34
schools and five regional seminaries offering bachelor

degrees in theology. In 2014 the Mekane Yesus Seminary
in Addis Ababa initiated a partnership with The Lutheran
ChurchMissouri Synod for an M.A. in Theology for
almost 40 local students with the eventual goal of granting a Ph.D. in Theology. All EECMY institutions together
with TEE and Distance Education graduated 1,434 at different levels of qualification.39
The list of avenues through which Lutheran church
bodies and their associated theological institutions are
providing training for African church leaders is as varied
as their individual histories. Its not useful to provide a list
since available data would not fairly or accurately represent the avenues in which theological acumen is being
gained. While currently only those such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzanias Tumaini University
Makumire (TUMA)40 through its faculty of theology are
able to provide up to a PhD in Theology, it is the goal of
each church body to build its capacity toward self-theologizing and practice as Lutheran Christians.
Conclusion
The multitude of Lutherans who proclaim the Gospel in
Africa results in surface forms as varied as the individual
founders. However, our overall understanding of Gods
mission sees God at work through these many efforts.
Gods Word is being proclaimed and wherever the Word
35
Ibid.
36
http://www.lutheranchurchnigeria.org, accessed on March 20, 2105.
37
38
Ibid.
EECMY Dept of Mission and Theology Annual Report 2014, presented

at CMCR Meeting in Addis Ababa, (Feb. 2014), 1113.
39
http://www.makumira.ac.tz/index.php/programmes/phd, accessed on
March 15, 2015.
40
101
makes its way through His people in Africa, the Word

comes back with fruit.
The Lutheran Church in Africa has grown in three
distinct ways in the last thirty years numerically, in
its capacity for training its members in Lutheran theology and in its methods toward establishing new church
bodies.
It has been an exciting three decades for me personally, seeing how God uses His people so others are called
to Him through His Word. Together, we observe with joy
the many who participate in His mission on the continent
that others might also hear and be called through the
Word wherever they may be in Africa.
The Rev. Dr. Mike Rodewald is executive director of
Lutheran Bible Translators.
Works Consulted
Bosch, David. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in
the Theology of Mission. Orbis: Maryknoll, NY, 1991.
Gutaa, Magarsaa. From a Humble Beginning to Advanced

Standing: A History of Mekane Yesus Seminary [1960
2010]. Mekane Yesus Seminary: Addis Ababa, 2011.
Hiebert, Paul. Anthropological Insights for Missionaries.
Baker: Grand Rapids, 1985.
Luthers Works (American Edition). Edited by J. Pelikan
and H. Lehman. Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis,
1955ff.
Noss, Philip. Bible Translation in History and into the
Future. Lausanne World Pulse Archives (September
2009), http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/themedarticles-php/1197/09-2009, accessed on 11 March 2015.
Ntsimane, Radikobo. The fragile identity of being
Lutheran and African: the vulnerability of confessional
Lutheran seminaries in Africa today. Studia Historiae
Ecclesiasticae 36:2 (October 2010): 219235.
Pastoral Education Update. Lutheran ChurchMissouri
Synod Office of International Mission Africa Management
Team Report (June 2011).
Bediako, Kwame. Christianity in Africa. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, 1995.
Rodewald, Mike. Islam and Christian Mission in Africa.

LBT e-Journal of Mission Studies 3:3 (September 2008):
20-42.
Bundor, John. Zealous for Evangelism. LBT Literacy

Report (September 2013).
Rodewald, Mike, Uganda Brief. LCMS Office of International Mission Report (March 2014).
The EECMY Department for Mission and Theology Annual Report 2014. Presented at CMCR meeting in Addis
Ababa, February 2014.
Sanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion is Christianity: The

Gospel beyond the West. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2003.
Country
Name
Method of Formation
Angola
Igreja Ev Luterana de Angola

Igreja Luterana Confessional em Anglola
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Benin
Eglise Evanglique Luthrienne du Benin

Eglise Lutherrienne AfriqueSynode du Benin
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Botswana
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Botswana

Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Burkina Faso
Eglise Evanglique Luthrienne du Burkina Faso
Africa-initiated
Burundi
Eglise Evanglique Luthrienne au Burundi
Africa-initiated
Cameroon
LEglise Evanglique Luthrienne au Cameroun

Lutheran Church of Cameroon
Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Central African Republic Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African

Republic
102
Mission-daughter
Country
Name
Method of Formation
Chad
Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Chad
Mission-daughter
Congo
Eglise Evanglique Luthrienne au Congo
Mission-daughter
Cote dIvoire
Evanglique Luthrienne Synod au Cote dIvoire
Mission-daughter
Dem. Republic of Congo
Ev. Eglise Lutherienne au Congo

Commanaute Eglise Lutherienne du Congo-Est
Eglise Lutherienne du Kivu
Lutheran Evangelical Church in Africa
Eglise Chretienne Evangelique Lutherienne du Congo
Eglise Lutherienne de Confession du Congo
Eglise International Evangelique Lutherienne du Congo
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Eritrea
Evangelical Church of Eritrea
Mission-daughter
Ethiopia
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus

Ethiopia Evangelical Lutheran Church
Lutheran Church of Ethiopia
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Gambia
Ev. Lutheran Church of Gambia

Lutheran Church of Gambia
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Ghana
Ev. Lutheran Church of Ghana

Apostolic Lutheran Church of Ghana
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Guinea
Ev. Eglise Lutherienne de Guinea
Mission-daughter
Kenya
Ev. Lutheran Church of Kenya

Kenya Ev. Lutheran Church
Apostolic Lutheran Kenya
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Direct-mission
Lesotho
Ev. Lutheran Church in Lesotho

Basotho Lutheran Church
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter/Africa-initiated
Liberia
Lutheran Church of Liberia

Ev. Lutheran Church of Liberia
Ev. Lutheran ChurchLiberia Synod
Apostolic Lutheran Church in Liberia
Mission-daughter
Direct-mission
Madagascar
Ev. Lutheran Church of Malawi

Lutheran Church of Central Africa
Confessional Lutheran ChurchMalawi Synod
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Malawi
Ev. Lutheran Church of Malawi

Confessional Lutheran ChurchMalawi Synod
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Mozambique
Igreja Ev Luterana de Moambique

Igreja Luterana da Concordia em Moambique
Igreja Livre Luterana de Mozambique
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated/Direct-mission
Unknown
Namibia
Ev. Lutheran Church in Namibia

Ev. Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia
Ev. Lutheran Church in NamibiaGerman Ev. Lutheran
Church
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Nigeria
Lutheran Church of Nigeria

All Saints Lutheran Church
Christ the King Lutheran Church
Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria
Apostolic Lutheran ChurchNigeria
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Direct-mission
Rwanda
Lutheran Church of Rwanda

Reformed Lutheran Church of Rwanda
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
103
Country
Name
Method of Formation
Senegal
Lglise Luthrienne au Sngal
Mission-daughter
Sierra Leone
Christ Ev. Lutheran Church of Sierra Leone

Ev. Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
South Africa
Ev. Lutheran Church of South Africa

Ev. Lutheran Church of South Africa (NT)
Ev. Lutheran Church of South Africa (Cape)
Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa
Moravian Church in S. Africa
United Lutheran Church of South Africa
Basotho Lutheran Church
Ethiopian Ev. Church Mekane YesusSouth Africa
Confessional Lutheran Church of South Africa
Lutheran Bapedi Church
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
South Sudan
Ev. Lutheran Church of Sudan/South Sudan

Lutheran Church of South Sudan
United Sudanese Lutheran Church
Africa-initiated/Direct-mission
Direct-mission
Direct-mission
Swaziland
Ev. Lutheran Church of South Africa

Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Tanzania
Ev. Lutheran Church of Tanzania

Lutheran Church in East Africa
Mission-daughter
Africa-initiated
Togo
Eglise Luthrienne du Togo

Ev Lutheran Church of Christ
Mission-daughter
Direct-mission
Uganda
Lutheran Church of Uganda (formerly Lutheran Church

Mission of Uganda)
Ev. Lutheran Church of Uganda
Uganda Lutheran Church (formerly Lutheran Church
Foundation)
Ev Lutheran Church ECA
Kampala Lutheran Church
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Zambia
Ev. Lutheran Church of Zambia

Lutheran Ev. Church of Africa
Africa-initiated
Mission-daughter
Mission-daughter
Zimbabwe
Ev. Lutheran Church of Zimbabwe
Mission-daughter
104
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Africa-initiated
Book Review and

Commentary
Learn Alan Hirschs definition

of Church and whether or not
its worth believing.
The Forgotten Ways Reactivating the Missional Church by Alan Hirsch. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press,
2006.
The Permanent Revolution: Apostolic Imagination and Practice for the 21st Century Church by Alan
Hirsch and Tim Catchim. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
by Albert B. Collver III
early anyone following the missional Revolution is ministry. Since Hirsch ascribes the loss
church movement has heard of Alan Hirsch, of the apostolic missional energy to the contemporary
who has been called one of the foremost churchs loss or misunderstanding of the biblical view of
missional thinkers of our day. Hirsch studied business Christs Church and of apostolic and Pauline ministry or
and marketing in the university before matriculating to leadership, these two books are significant and worth the
Australia where he studied seminary at the Australian time to consider his arguments.
College of Theology. After graduating, Hirsch became
In his book The Forgotten Ways, Hirsch develops
the pastor at the South Melbourne Church of Christ and explains significant aspects of his missional theory.
in 1989. For the next 15 years, Hirsch served as the He believes that his book demonstrates a more authenpastor. He worked with the marginalized and poor in tic expression of ecclesia and that in light of the 21st
Melbourne. From this experience,
century challenges that the inherited
Hirsch developed his missional theory.
formulas will no longer work (pg. 16).
For Hirsch
He has written a library of missional
Hirsch identifies his book as belonging
the irreducible
books.1 However, two of his books in
to the category of missional ecclesiolminimal
definition
particular define his mission paradigm:
ogy. Hirschs primary thesis is that once
of the Church is
The Forgotten Ways, first published in
the Church became institutionalized
2006, and The Permanent Revolution,
after Constantine and the legalization
a covenanted
published in 2012. Hirsch considers
of Christianity, she departed from the
community and
The Forgotten Ways to be his magnum
Scriptural foundations of what it means
that it is centered
opus and a phenomenology of
to be church and missional. Hirsch
on
Jesus.
2
apostolic movement. Hirschs book
seeks to discover how the Church grew
The Permanent Revolution focuses on
from an estimated 25,000 people in 100
the nature of ministry and leadership within (and for) A.D. to 20,000,000 people by 310 A.D. He asks, So, how
apostolic movements but it does so within the broader did [sic] the early church do it? In answering the quescontext of fivefold gifting complex set out by Paul in his tion, we can perhaps find the answer to the question for
foundational work on ecclesiology Ephesians.3 Hirsch the church and mission in our day and in our context. For
describes The Permanent Revolution as correlating to herein lies the powerful mystery of the church in its most
the mDNA of apostolic environment in The Forgotten authentic form (pgs. 1819).
Ways.4 In slightly more traditional ecclesial vocabulary,
Hirsch juxtaposes or compares the Apostolic Genius
if The Forgotten Ways is church, then The Permanent of the Early Churchs growth with the growth of the
Christian Church (Three-Self Church) in China after
1 See more at http://www.theforgottenways.org/alan-hirsch.aspx.
the Communist revolution. Hirsch states, In the Chi2 Ibid.
nese phenomenon we are witnessing the most significant
3 Ibid.
transformational Christian movement in the history
4
Ibid.
105
of the church (pg. 19) He compares the growth of the and trigger it (pg. 21). Hirschs book claims to help the
Chinese church to the Early Church, And remember, not reader access this Apostolic Genius so that the Church
unlike the early church, these people had very few Bibles can be revitalized once again.
(at times they shared only one page to a house church and
Hirsch notes that his book provides a consistent crithen swapped that page with another house group). They tique of religious institutionalism. He wants to clarify
had no professional clergy, no official leadership struc- that he doe not think institutionalism is bad per se, but
ture, no central organization, no mass meetings, and yet that simply in his analysis of the early Christian commuthey grew like mad. How is this possible? How did they nity and of the Chinese Christian community (and other
do it? (pg. 19). He provides two other historical exam- growing churches) that Gods people are more potent
ples of Early Church like growth from recent history. He by far when they have little of what we would recogcites the growth of Methodism from less than 2 percent nize as church institution in their life together (pg. 23).
of the population in America in 1776
Hirsch recognizes that this critique
to more than 34 percent of the populawill be challenging to most Western
Hirsch
essentially
tion by 1850. His other example is the
religious leaders because they are a
claims for 1,700 years product of religious institutionalism.
growth of Pentecostalism, which grew
the Church has been
from humble beginnings at the turn
Yet he encourages the reader to hear
of the 20th century to more than 400
out his presentation. He divides his
following a less than
million by the end of the 20th century
book into Section 1 and Section 2. Secor even unbiblical
with projections of exceeding more
tion 1 is narrative in style describing
model.
He
wants
to
than 1 billion by the mid-21st century.
some of Hirschs experiences. Section
revitalize the Church
Hirsch asks, How did they do it?
2 describes Apostolic Genius and the
by
returning
to
and
(pg. 19).
elements of mDNA.
Hirsch calls these examples of rapid
Section 1 describes Hirschs expecontextualizing
church growth dangerous stories
rience at South Melbourne Church
the Apostolic and
because they challenge the established
of Christ right after he completed his
Postapostolic
mode
church. He states that the goal of his
seminary training. Tracking with his
of the church for the
book is to try and give a name to
critique of institutionalism, Hirsch
present
age.
this phenomena and to try to identify
begins by offering a critique of semthe elements that constitutes it (pg.
inary education, I have to say that
19). Hirsch calls the phenomena of
nothing in my seminary training had
rapid church growth Apostolic Genius, and the elements prepared me for the experience of those years. Everythat constitute it mDNA (missional DNA). In both thing in my education was geared toward maintaining the
the growth of the Early Church and that of the Chinese established, more institutional forms of the church. The
church, Hirsch identifies persecution as key factor. Per- vast majority of the subjects on offer were theoretical and
secution forced them away from any possible reliance on were taught by theoreticians, not practitioners. So we had
any form of centralized religious institution and caused to learn on the run (pg. 30). Later in the book, Hirsch
them to live closer to, and more consistently with their states that leadership, or the lack of it, is a significant
primal message of the gospel . It purified them from key to either the renewal or the decline of the church
the dross and any unnecessary churchly paraphernalia. It (pg. 120). Hirsch believes that this leadership malaise has
was by being true to the gospel that they unleashed the been caused by the agencies and people that have been
power of Apostolic Genius (pg. 20). Hirsch maintains responsible for the training and endorsing of leadership
that all of Gods people carry within themselves the same (Ibid.). Hirsch calls for the reader to question how church
potencies that energize the early Christian movement and leaders have been trained for the past few centuries. He
that are currently manifest in the underground Chinese believes that a significant problem of seminary education
church. Apostolic Genius (the primal missional potencies is that it removes a would-be leader from the context of
of the gospel and of Gods people) lies dormant in you, ordinary life and ministry in order to study in a somewhat
me, and every local church that seeks to follow Jesus faith- cloistered environment (pg. 120). Hirsch maintains that
fully in any time. We have simply forgotten how to access this is not how Jesus trained leaders and disciples. He also
106
states that Jesus was well aware of the Greek academy within Hirschs definition, they are not primary as in
model but that Jesus did not use that model to teach.
the Augsburg Confession. Hirsch defines worship as
In Hirschs The Permanent Revolution written in 2012, offering our lives back to God, in contrast to the Apolhe further expands his critique of seminary education. He ogy of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, 33/154: The
writes:
woman came with the opinion that forgiveness of sins
The denominational seminary is a classic case in
should be sought in Christ. This worship is the highest
point. If one organization is set apart to handle all the
worship of Christ. She would think of nothing greater
ideas and leadership training, then the local church
about Christ. To seek forgiveness of sins from Him was
no longer believes it has to do the hard work of these
truly to acknowledge the Messiah. Hirschs ecclesiology
itself. As a result, it becomes lazy and dependent
and definition of worship are significantly, if not fundaon the external organization. If we are not careful,
mentally different, then what is confessed in the Lutheran
creating external training and licensing bodies
Confessions. In fact, Hirschs view of ecclesiology is not
can be a death knell to a movement and cultivate a
compatible with the Lutheran Confessions. Hirsch even
propensity toward institutionalism (Kindle location:
states, People accustomed to being fed are generally
6505).
loath to move from passivity to activity (pg. 47). Yet
Complaints about seminary education are nothing Lutheran theology focuses on Christs people being fed on
new and frequently circulate in various denominations. Christs Word and Sacraments. Considering that Hirschs
Hirsch identifies how seminary education is done as a thesis is that a fundamental problem with the Church
hindrance to developing church leaders and an instru- today is that it has departed from the New Testament
ment that leads to the institutionalization of the Church. conception of the Church and that his view of the Church
Hirsch seems to favor ministry and
does not agree with the Lutheran
leadership training inside the local
Confessions must cause Lutherans to
For Hirsch, the
congregation over formal, academic
question not only Hirschs thesis but also
word
church
is
seminary training. It is ironic to note
his proposed solution.
that Hirsch wrote this about seminary
Hirschs fundamental thesis is that
linked to buildings,
education before he, himself, became
the Church existed in the Apostolic
clergy and rituals.
part of the academy. As of 2015, Hirsch
and Postapostolic mode between
serves as a professor at Wheaton Col32313 A.D. From 313 A.D. until the
lege in the Missional Church Movement program.
21st century, the Church has existed in what he calls the
The heart of Hirschs book The Forgotten Ways cen- Christendom Mode. Hirschs Christendom Mode is
ters on ecclesiology and church leadership (church and similar in concept to what others refer to as the Constanministry, using Lutheran terminology). For Hirsch the tinian Church, which is a church that has favor with the
irreducible minimal definition of the Church is a cov- government and society in general. Finally, he describes
enanted community and that it is centered on Jesus. the past decade or so as the Emerging Missional Mode
Hirsch further states that a meaningful encounter with (pg. 64). Hirsch argues that the Christendom mode
Jesus results in worship, defined as offering our lives church is not the original biblical church and should not
back to God through Jesus; Discipleship, defined as mourned.5 According to Hirschs paradigm, the Apostolic
following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him; Mis- and Postapostolic mode of church has more similarities
sion, defined as extending the mission of God through with the Emerging Missional mode than it does with
the activities of his people (pg. 40). Hirsch states, Each the Christendom mode which has dominated throughinforms the other to create a complex phenomenon out most of the history of the Church. For instance, both
called church (Ibid.). Contrast Hirschs definition of the Apostolic and Postapostolic mode and Emergthe Church with that of the Augsburg Confession, Arti- ing Missional mode of church does not have dedicated
cle VII: Our churches teach that one holy Church is to
remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints 5 If you are feeling uncomfortable at this point, let me reiterate that
in which the Gospel is purely taught and the Sacraments Christendom in fact is not the original biblical mode of the early
are correctly administered. Although the Word (and church, and so we do not need to feel too touchy about it. Its all right
Gods not going to strike us if we seek to find a better way to be faithful
perhaps Sacraments) might be able to exist or be found as well as missional. Progress is cool (The Forgotten Ways, 64).
107
church buildings, whereas the Christendom mode the final one. It is high time for us to dethrone Constansupposedly holds that buildings become central to the tine; as far as matters of church go, it seems he is still the
notion and experience of church (pg. 64). The Apos- emperor of our imaginations. The church now faces the
tolic and Postapostolic mode and Emerging Missional challenge of discovering mission in a new paradigm while
mode of church has a five-fold ministry-leadership based struggling to free itself from the Christendom mindset
on Ephesians 4 (apostle, prophet,
(Ibid.). In Section 2, Hirsch also develevangelist, pastor, teacher), whereas
oped a definition of a missional church.
Although Hirsch
the Christendom mode of church
So a working definition of missional
offers some helpful
has leadership by institutionally
church is a community of Gods
critiques
on
Western
ordained clergy, thus creating a profespeople that defines itself, and orgaculture in the
sional guild operating primarily in a
nizes its life around, its real purpose
pastor-teacher mode (Ibid.). The fiveof being an agent of Gods mission to
twenty-first century,
fold minister-leadership model based
the world. In other words, the churchs
his solution to
on Ephesians 4 where ministry-leadtrue and authentic organizing prinsolving the decline
ership is expressed as APEPT (apostle,
ciple is mission. When the church is
of
the
Western
prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher) is
in mission, it is the true church (pg.
church requires a
a major component of Hirschs par81). Hirsch develops a formula for
adigm and will be discussed in more
engaging in mission for post-Chrisreinterpretation both
detail below. The Apostolic and Postatian culture: Christology determines
of the Church and of
postolic mode of church according
missiology, and missiology determines
the ministry.
to Hirsch celebrates communion as
ecclesiology (Ibid., 142). He calls
a sacramentalized community meal
this missional ecclesiology. Contrast
and Baptism done by all while the Emerging Missional Hirschs definition of the true church with Augsburg Conmode resacramentalizes and ritualizes new symbols and fession VII, which finds the Church gathered around the
events including the meal. For Hirsch this stands in con- Word and the Sacraments.
trast to the Christendom mode of the church, which
In The Forgotten Ways, Hirsch discusses his minishas institutionalized grace through the Sacraments expe- ter-leader model APEPT apostle, prophet, evangelist,
rienced only in church. The Apostolic and Postapostolic pastor, teacher) based on Eph. 4:711 (pg. 158). Howmode and Emerging Missional mode according to ever, it is the book he wrote six years later, The Permanent
Hirsch are both on the fringes of society, marginalized, Revolution, where he develops the model more fully and
and perhaps underground. In contract the Christendom replaces the term pastor with that of shepherd. In The
mode of the church is perceived as central to society and Permanent Revolution, Hirsch calls Eph. 4:116 an almost
culture. In terms of mission, Hirsch sees the Apostolic silver bullet, a simple, guaranteed solution for a difficult
and Postapostolic mode and Emerging Missional mode problem (Kindle location: 992). Hirsch claims that applyas an incarnational and sending church. In contrast. the ing the Ephesians 4 typology will unleash enormous
Christendom mode of the church is what Hirsch calls energies that will awaken now-dormant potentials in the
attractional, which means that people gather to come church that Jesus built (Ibid.). Hirsch states that Epheand see rather than going out into the world or sending. sians 4 typology that is, the fivefold ministry he calls
Hirsch essentially claims for 1,700 years the Church has APEST: apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher
been following a less than or even unbiblical model. He is a major component of Pauline ecclesiology. He notes
wants to revitalize the Church by returning to and con- that in the millions of books written about the church the
textualizing the Apostolic and Postapostolic mode of the APEST model has never been discussed.
church for the present age.
Yet in the many millions of theological books that
Hirsch claims for the Church to be successful today
have ever been written, we cannot find serious
we need to invoke and access the power of Apostolic
explorations of the topic of fivefold ministry as a
Genius. (Pg. 65). He summarizes that the truly liberliving and and vital piece of the churchs genetic
ating thing to realize is that Christendom was not the
coding. In theological libraries, you will find
original mode of the church, and hopefully it will not be
hundreds of thousands of books that explore some
108
of the most obscure concepts conceivable not

to mention countless contemporary books of
theological bubblegum, and yet there is no openminded and focused thinking on Ephesians 4 even
though it contains a concentrated piece of deeply
foundational Pauline ecclesiology (Kindle location:
1024).
Hirsch makes the bold claim that the reason the
Church has ignored the Ephesians 4 typology for nearly
1,700 years is because the Devil wanted to strike a blow
against our capacity to be the church that Jesus intended
us to be (Ibid.). Hirsch argues that the foundational ministry of the Church, that is, the Ephesians 4 typology has
been divided. This division or tearing apart of the Ephesians 4 typology has completely delegitimize[d] some
areas of the ministry, while over legitimizing others by
institutionalizing them. The result of this loss of the
Ephesians 4 typology is that the ministry of the church,
along with its leadership, is thus rendered largely ineffective (Kindle location: 1038). Hirsch says that the Church
today needs a missional ministry for a missional church.
The way to do this according to Hirsch is to follow the
Ephesians 4 typology.
For Hirsch a missional ministry requires the restoration of the apostle, prophet and evangelist roles to the
Church. Hirsch believes being missional depends upon
this and recognizes that many will be challenged by his
assertions. He writes:
But we fear that so many of these vital conversations
are doomed to frustration because the people in
them are unwilling or unable to reconfigure ministry
to suit the missional context. Although many buy
into the concept, they are unwilling to recalibrate
the ecclesiology. Christendom church has been
run largely shepherd-teacher model, and because it
has had a privileged position in society, it has been
inclined to dispense with the more missional or
evangelistic ministry types (apostle, prophet, and
evangelist). These inherited forms of the church are
not equipped for the missional challenge because
they refuse to recalibrate their ministry along the
lines suggested in Ephesians 4 (Kindle location:
1054).
Hirschs Ephesians 4 typology holds that the ministry /
leadership of the Church is based on what he calls APEST.
APEST is his acronym for apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. He bases this paradigm on
Eph. 4:1112, And he gave the apostles, the prophets,
the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the

saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body
of Christ. In Lutheran circles for the past few decades,
the discussion on Eph. 4:1112 has focused on if the one
pastoral office (consisting of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers) is to equip the saints by
doing the work of the ministry (preaching the Word and
administering the Sacraments) or if the one pastoral office
equips the saints to do ministry. Hirsch, of course, holds
the view that the ministry of apostle, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers is to equip the saints to do
the work of the ministry. But Hirschs interpretation is far
more reaching in that it creates a fivefold ministry rather
than one Office of the Ministry. Lutherans have typically
understood Eph.s 4:11 as descriptive about the one pastoral office. Hirsch understands Eph. 4:11 as prescriptive.
Where Hirsch takes St. Pauls letter to the Ephesians as
defining the ministry, Lutherans have looked to the texts
where Christ institutes institutes the Office of the Holy
Ministry found in Matt. 28:1820 and John 20:2123.
(See Lutheran Service Book Agenda, pg. 162). Lutherans
have found Eph. 4:1112 as descriptive of the responsibilities of the office of the Holy Ministry. (See Lutheran
Service Book Agenda, pg. 163).
According to Hirsch, the Ephesians 4 typology
requires a fivefold Office of Ministry. Hirschs fivefold
office, although using similar language, is not the same
as the Anglican or Roman threefold ministry of bishop,
priest and deacon. Hirsch maintains that for the Church
to be a missional church, it needs to have a missional
ministry that is fivefold in nature and consists of apostles,
prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. He goes so
far as to suggest that the APEST ministry is part of the
order of creation. APEST is reflected in the orders of
creation (as part of the general human experience In
other words, these apply in some ways to all people, not
just Christians (Kindle location: 1087). This means that
when Eph. 4:11 says, And he gave, the giving of apostle, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers is not a
gift specifically given to the Church but rather is given
to all of humanity. Non-Christians in secular roles also
fulfill the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds
and teachers in the areas of politics, business and all other
secular vocations. For instance, an apostle in a secular
role is a pioneer who might turn around a failing school
or a person who creates a movement or who starts entrepreneurial businesses. APEST is a part of being made in
the image of God and not a special spiritual gift to the
109
church, specifically the gift of the office of the ministry

to proclaim the Gospel. Presumably, the Church, being
enlightened by the Holy Scriptures, would seek to recover
and utilize the APEST given to all humans as part of the
order of creation. As a result of APEST being based on
the order of creation, that is, according to Hirsch, qualities endowed to the human condition, it is possible to test
and identify the APEST in individuals. Hirsch offers tools
to test which of the APEST gifts a person has so that he
can enter into the proper form of ministry. An online test
can help a person and a congregation find which person
has what APEST gift. (See http://www.theforgottenways.
org/what-is-apest.aspx). Consequently, since the Church
for the past 1,700 years has only had shepherds and teachers (pastors and academics), the Church is no longer
missional, nor is it capable of being missional in the 21st
century unless the Church recovers the APEST ministry.
Hirsch provides definitions of each APEST ministry.
The apostle is tasked with the overall vigor, as well as
extension of Christianity as a whole, primarily through
direct mission and church planting. (Kindle location:
1067). The prophet is called to maintain faithfulness
to God among the people of God (Ibid.). The evangelist is the recruiter to the cause, the naturally infectious
person who is able to enlist people into the movement by
transmitting the gospel (Ibid.). The shepherd (pastor) is
called to nurture spiritual development, maintain communal health, and engender loving community among
the people of God (Ibid.). The teacher mediates wisdom
and understanding. This philosophical type brings comprehensive understanding of the revelation bequeathed to
the church (Ibid.). Hirsch maintains that all five of these
forms of the ministry are needed for the Church to be
authentically missional. Hirsch acknowledges that his
approach to interpreting Ephesians 4 is sociological. He
argues that the sociological approach allows us to demystify the overly fraught language of the Bible and approach
the meaning of Ephesians 4:11 without the polemics
that have accompanied it in the past (Kindle location:
1100). His sociological approach causes Hirsch to say that
the shepherd (pastor) / teacher model employed by the
Church has led to a leadership dysfunction.
Hirsch views Ephesians 4 as a constitutional
document of the Church. He considers it to be
authoritative for the ecclesia as God intended it to be.
He identifies the apostle, prophet and evangelist as
generative forms of the ministry, while the pastor and
teacher modes maintain systems. Hirsch states that such a
110
view will revolutionize the Church. Instead of seeing the

church as an extension of the seminary (teacher) or as a
place merely to get fed (shepherd), we can rightly conceive
of the church within the broader framework of Christs
ministry (Kindle location: 1162). Hirschs problem with
relying on the shepherd (pastor) and teacher models
of ministry is that a church plant based on this model
inevitably leads to the primary purpose of the new
plant will be to run worship services and Bible studies
(Kindle location: 1177). Hirsch argues that churches that
operate with only a twofold ministry of shepherd (pastor)
and teacher are incapable of maturing and are unable to
equip the saints. Hirsch views the APEST ministry as
Christological, because it is an extension of the original
ministry of Christ. For Hirsch, Christ was an apostle, a
prophet, an evangelist, a shepherd and a teacher. Since no
one person possesses this fivefold office, individual people
take on the role of one. Therefore, A twofold ministry
can never hope to reflect a complete and comprehensive
ministry of Christ to the world, and neither can it ever
hope to fulfill his purposes through the church. Anything
less than a fivefold ministry is a misrepresentation of
the ministry of Christ, and by consequence, that leads
to a misrepresentation of Christ in the world (Kindle
location: 1391). For Hirsch, the absence of a fivefold
APEST ministry in the church is a distortion of Christ,
which causes a distortion or a dysfunctional church.
Hirsch spends significant time critiquing the church
and the ministry of the past 1,700 years. He regards the
shepherd (pastor) and teacher model of ministry as the
cause for the institutionalization of the Church. He is not
fond of the term church planting because of the cultural
associations of the word church in the West. For Hirsch,
the word church is linked to buildings, clergy and rituals. He also contends that the Scriptures do not command
church planting.
One of the core tasks of apostolic ministry is to plant
churches, but we are increasingly convinced that
the term church planting itself is problematic. That
is partly because we are never actually commanded
to plant churches. In the Bible, that is always
considered to be Jesuss job; for our part, we are
called to evangelize the world by making disciples
To get to the real heart of the Great Commission,
we suggest that it might be useful to drop the phrase
church planting; instead we should begin to focus
on the approach of gospel planting. This is actually
very useful because it takes us to the core of what
missionary work is about in the first place: planting

the message of Jesus and cultivating contextualized
communities of faith that shape themselves around
it (Kindle location: 5962).
Hirsch believes that apostolic doctrine supplanted
apostolic practice. In regard to doctrine, Hirsch writes:
We can no longer afford to delude ourselves into
thinking that simply believing apostolic doctrine
is going to be enough. If theological ideas were
enough to create a mature church and usher in the
kingdom, it would surely have happened by now.
We have literally hundreds of millions of words of
theology stored up in our libraries. For too long, we
have allowed ourselves to be deceived into thinking
that because we advocate apostolic doctrine that we
are somehow going to automatically be an apostolic
church. History has proven this to be patently false:
having millions of theological books has not kept
us from being profoundly heretical at times. God
save us from thinking another volume of systematic
theology is going to fix things up (Kindle location:
7200).
Much more regarding Hirschs views could be written. Although Hirsch offers some helpful critiques on
Western culture in the twenty-first century, his solution
to solving the decline of the Western church requires
a reinterpretation both of the Church and of the ministry. As Hirsch himself noted, the history of the Church
has never conceived of a fivefold office consisting of
APEST (apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher).
His understanding of the Church is not rooted in the
preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments as confessed by Augustana VII. For Lutherans
who believe in the Holy Scriptures and confess the Book
of Concord, Hirschs definition of the church and of the
ministry cannot be seen as compatible. It is important for
us to understand Hirschs argument on both the Church
and the ministry as his views have become incredibly
popular in the missional crowd. Many missional works
follow, assume, borrow or adapt ideas from Hirsch. When
reading these works, we should keep in mind Hirschs
framework so that those works can be understood within
the context they were written.
The Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver III is LCMS director of
Church Relations and assistant to President Matthew C.
Harrison.
111

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What is the significance of Wittenberg for the Lutheran Reformation?

What is the significance of Wittenberg for the Lutheran Reformation?

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Journal of Lutheran

From the President

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Sermon: A Song of Joy by Michael Kumm...................................................................................................... 2

Published by The Lutheran Church

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Journal of Lutheran Mission | The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod

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Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed. (Chicago:

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Robert Kolb, Resurrection and Justification. Luthers Use of Romans

Werner Elert, Deutschrechtliche Zge in Luthers

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Risto Saarinen, Justification by Faith. The View of the Mannermaa

Small Catechism, his primer and confession of faith for

Mark Mattes, Luther on Justification as Forensic and Effective, in

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Oswald Bayer, Theology the Lutheran Way, trans. Jeffrey G. Silcock