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November 14, 2017
Smalcald Article Study: The Gospel
The heart of the Scriptures, the heart of Luther’s preaching and teaching, and the heart of Lutheran theology, is the Gospel. This time we read Part III, Article 4 of the Smalcald Articles, which brings us back to this heart.
October 15, 2017
Smalcald Article Study: Repentance
While we often think of repentance being poorly understood because of Papist emphasis on man’s efforts, the Reformers (and we still to this day) also recognized that many are burdened in conscience by the notion that Christians shouldn’t need to repent.
September 16, 2017
Smalcald Article Study: The Law
Luther, in the Smalcald Articles, isn't so much confronting an error directly (that comes in the next Article on Repentance), but is instead making a positive confession about what the Law is and what role it plays in the world.
August 14, 2017
Smalcald Article Study: Sin
A lot of people think they know what “sin” is, but usually see their remedy to sin as “try harder, do better.” This not only confuses the remedy, but also the ailment!
June 17, 2017
Smalcald Articles Study: Chapters and Cloisters
In article III, Luther confesses how dangerous the monastic life was to him and to all ensnared by its promises of “grace through holy living;” Such reasoning robs Christ of His glory as the Savior.
May 16, 2017
Smalcald Articles Study: Invocation of the Saints
Luther says that the invocation of saints "destroys the knowledge of Christ." How would you say the invocation of saints does this? What is the consequence of such destruction?
April 12, 2017
Smalcald Articles Study: The Mass
Luther understood the danger behind the Mass was not simply a smattering of errors in otherwise Christian worship, rather it was an entire system of a false theology of worship.
June 24, 2022
LCMS Worship - Prayer petitions to use following the SCOTUS ruling on 'Dobbs v. Jackson'
The following prayer may be included in the Prayers of the Church and is provided in three common forms.
October 23, 2017
The Antinomian Disputations
Between 1537 and 1540, Martin Luther and his onetime colleague John Agricola fiercely debated the role of the Law in the Church.
October 21, 2017
The Marburg Colloquy
Even before the meeting at Marburg, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli had each written forcefully against the position of the other regarding whether the true body of Jesus Christ was present in the Lord’s Supper. In what came to be known as the Great Controversy, it was clear that Luther and Zwingli could not come to agreement on this doctrinal issue.
October 19, 2017
The Leipzig Debate
Luther’s use of Scripture to challenge the pope came to a climax in the early summer of 1519 when Luther and the renowned theologian John Eck met face to face in Leipzig to debate the main topics of contention raised by the Wittenberg theologians.
October 29, 2017
The Diet of Worms
The imperial Diet of Worms of 1521 was in many respects the culmination of the first phase of the Luther’s Reformation. As opposition increased, and as he studied the Scriptures in their original languages, Luther’s departures from late medieval theology grew ever more significant.
October 13, 2017
The Burning of the Papal Bull
The burning of the bull was not something Luther did lightly, or with great pomp necessarily. He later told his friend and superior Johann von Staupitz that he did this while “trembling and praying.”
October 17, 2017
The Heidelberg Disputations
Many events were set in motion by Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on October 31st, 1517, but ironically, not the very thing he intended. The 95 Theses were meant for theological debate, a debate that never occurred. Any expectation of a lively academic disputation was consumed by a firestorm that reached far beyond Wittenberg and Germany to the pope himself.
May 25, 2017
The Reformers on the Ascension
What benefits do we gain from Jesus’ ascension? Lutheran Reformers in their sermons point us to the scriptural answers to these questions. They emphasize Christ’s victory over sin and his continual presence with his church in the world.
July 19, 2017
Lutherans and the Early Church Fathers
A common misconception is that the Lutheran Church was only started in the 1500s. The Lutheran Reformation did not sweep away their predecessors into the dustbin of history! Instead they returned to the pure doctrine that the Church had taught from the time of Christ.