The Genius of Luther’s Theology
A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church
Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand
BakerAcademic
Grand Rapids, Michigan
©2008 by Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kolb, Robert, 1941–
The genius of Luther’s theology: a Wittenberg way of thinking for the contemporary church / Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8010-3180-9 (pbk.)
1. Luther, Martin, 1483–1546. I. Arand, Charles P. II. Title.
BR333.3.K65 2007
230′.41—dc22
2007027387
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Introduction: The Genius of Luther’s Thought
Part 1 “Our Theology”: Luther’s Definition of the Human Creature through “Two Kinds of Righteousness”
1. Luther’s Anthropological Matrix
3. The Shape of Human Performance
4. The Subversion of Our Human Identity
Part 2 When the Word Is Spoken, All Things Are Possible: Luther and the Word of God
7. The Enfleshed and Written Forms of God’s Word
8. The “Means of Grace” as Forms of God’s Word
9. God’s Word Takes Form as His People Convey It to One Another
Conclusion: Thinking with Luther in the Twenty-first Century
Book of Concord The Book of Concord. Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000.
BSLK Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1930, 1991.
CR Philip Melanchthon. Corpus Reformatorum: Opera quae supersunt omnia. Edited by C. G. Bretschneider and H. E. Bindseil. Vols. 1–28. Halle and Braunschweig: Schwetschke, 1834–60.
KJV King James Version ...
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About The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary ChurchWhile other volumes are available that introduce readers to the theology of Martin Luther, this volume from two eminent Lutheran professors offers a unique approach. Rather than surveying traditional theological subject headings, they focus on two central ideas that informed the basic conceptual framework of Wittenberg theology. The first presupposition concerns Luther’s anthropology. His well-known emphasis on justification by faith, or “passive righteousness,” described God’s grace. But Luther also emphasized a related aspect, the “active righteousness” of love that ought to shape and guide social relationships. The second presupposition concerns Luther’s focus on the way God works in the world through his Word—creative, incarnational, and sacramental. Taken together, Kolb and Arand find that these ideas formed a matrix that shaped the theological reflections of Luther and his disciples. Twenty-first century Christians face significant challenges to their proclamation of the Gospel and to their existence as a faith community. Living in a tumultuous age, Luther faced equally challenging crises. His theological emphases, which are described and considered in this perceptive study, have much to offer contemporary pastors and theologians who seek to construct their own formulations of God’s message for the present age. |
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