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July 30, 2017
Robert Barnes: A Lutheran Martyr in England
July 30 is the commemoration of Robert Barnes, Confessor and Martyr. But his name might not be well known, even among those who study the Lutheran Reformation in Germany.
July 28, 2017
Lutheran Spotlight: Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach’s connection and admiration of Luther stems from his childhood; in particular, his early education. Born in 1685 in Eisenach in Thuringia, Bach spent three years at the Latin school that Luther had attended two centuries prior.
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.
July 15, 2017
Lutherans in Lithuania
In Lithuania, when it comes to tracing political history, border lines, or even the establishment of a church founded by Lutheran “heretics”, nothing is ever simple to keep in order. The details are complex...
July 12, 2017
Saints' Days in the Lutheran Tradition
Most people know that St. Valentine’s Day is on February 14 and St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17. But do you know what the date is for St. Matthew’s Day? Or St. Joseph’s Day?
June 29, 2017
Albrecht Dürer: The Man Behind the Self-Portrait
Dürer was the one of the first artists to paint self-portraits. But why would he paint in the typical medieval tradition of picturing Jesus in full frontal view and use himself as the visage of Christ?
June 23, 2017
Sources of the Augsburg Confession
Philipp Melanchthon composed the Augsburg Confession in preparation for the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. The emperor Charles V called the diet in order to resolve the religious issues that were divided the empire.
June 20, 2017
Table Talk: Melancholy
One issue that Luther returns to again and again, both on his own volition and from the questions of others, is spiritual assault and ‘melancholy.’
June 16, 2017
The Luther Mile – Historic Reformation Video Tour Part 2
Tour the cradle of the Lutheran Reformation with LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison.
June 16, 2017
The Luther Mile – Historic Reformation Video Tour Part 1
Tour the cradle of the Lutheran Reformation with LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison.
June 14, 2017
Luther and Calvin
Calvin is considered by some the one who codified the Reformation in the form that it finally took and is considered by the same to be the truly premier theologian of the era. So, who is Calvin, and what should we think of him as Lutherans? What did Luther think of him?
June 11, 2017
Luther and Zwingli
In the year 1529, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli came face to face in the city of Marburg, Germany for a discussion on political unity among protestants.
June 8, 2017
Luther and Erasmus
There are few men of the 15th and 16th centuries that deserve our attention more than Erasmus Desiderius of Rotterdam. He represents the pinnacle of Christian humanism, an intellectual movement that revitalized classical and biblical scholarship north of the Alps.
May 31, 2017
Luther’s Love for St. Mary, Queen of Heaven
It’s probably not what you think. In his devotional writings on the Magnificat, Luther carefully outlines how we should and should not honor this “Most Blessed Virgin Mother.”
May 28, 2017
The Three Estates in Luther's Theology
According to this schema Luther saw all of human life ordered across three spheres of structured relationships: the politia, the oeconomia, and the ecclesia.
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.