Luther in English

The Influence of His Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals (1525–35)

Michael S. Whiting

PICKWICK Publications • Eugene, Oregon

LUTHER IN ENGLISH

The Influence of His Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals (1525–35)

Princeton Theological Monograph Series 142

Copyright © 2010 Michael S. Whiting. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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isbn 13: 978-1-60608-900-2

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Whiting, Michael S.

Luther in English: the influence of his theology of law and gospel on early English evangelicals (1525–35) / Michael S. Whiting.

Princeton Theological Monograph Series 142

xviii + 360 p.; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references.

isbn 13: 978-1-60608-900-2

1. Luther, Martin, 1483–1546—Theology. 2. England—Church history—16th century. 3. Reformation—Great Britain. 4. Tyndale, William, d. 1536. 5. Frith, John, 1503–1533. 6. Barnes, Robert, 1495–1540. 7. Wycliffe, John, d. 1384. 8. Lollards. I. Title. II. Series.

BR375 W50 2010

Princeton Theological Monograph Series

K. C. Hanson, Charles M. Collier, and D. Christopher Spinks

Series Editors

Dedicated to the memory of Professor Emeritus Nigel Yates, DD (1944–2009)

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Luther and the English Evangelical Reformers in Retrospect

1 Lex Sola Accusat”? Modern Appraisals of Law, Gospel, and the Tertius Usus Legis in the Theology of Luther

2 Law and Gospel in Luther’s “Breakthrough” Years and Early Lectures on the Bible (1515–1520)

3 Combating Legalism and Lawlessness: Law and Gospel in Luther’s Writings of the 1520s

4 Law and Gospel in Luther’s Later Years and His Dispute with the Antinomians (1530–1540)

5 After Lollardy and Humanism: Luther’s Writings in England and the Beginnings of “Evangelical” Reformation

6 Law and Gospel in the Theology of William Tyndale

7 Law and Gospel in the Theology of John Frith

8 Law and Gospel in the Theology of Dr. Robert Barnes

Conclusion: Reassessing the Influence of Luther’s Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals

Bibliography

Preface

This Book is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation, “Luther in English: Law and Gospel in the Theology of Early English Evangelicals (1525–1535),” written between 2004–2009 under the supervision of Dr. Eva De Visscher and the late Nigel Yates, Professor Emeritus of Ecclesiastical History, at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

While I do agree with recent scholars that the singular title of “Reformation” to describe the period of the sixteenth century tends to underemphasize the rich national diversity that characterized the historical ...

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About Luther in English: The Influence of His Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals (1525–35)

Recent studies have increasingly downplayed, and in a few cases even wholly denied, the influence of Martin Luther’s theology of Law and Gospel on early English evangelicals such as William Tyndale. The impact of a late medieval Augustinian renaissance, Erasmian Humanism, the Reformed tradition, and Lollardy have all but eclipsed the more central role once attributed to Luther. In this text Michael Whiting examines these claims with a thorough reevaluation of Luther’s theology of Law and Gospel in its historical context—spanning twenty-five years, something entirely lacking in all previous studies. Using extensive research of primary sources, paying acute attention to the larger historical narrative, and remaining in dialogue with secondary scholarship, Whiting argues that scholars have often oversimplified Luther’s theology of Law and Gospel. His argument continues that scholars have thus wrongly diminished Luther’s very significant, even principal, influence upon first-generation evangelicals William Tyndale, John Frith, and Robert Barnes during the English Reformation of the 1520s and 1530s.

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