Steven WedgeworthThe Protestant Reformation marked an explosive turning point in church history, as it recovered and proclaimed the gospel of saving grace. Its message was that God justifies men in his sight by faith alone. To be saved, a person must place their...
Jennifer Powell McNuttFrom the window of graduate student housing at Emory University, my mother recalls watching an older man carrying a heavy sack and placing a book at the doorstep of each of the apartments, one after the other. And then this St. Nicholas-like man...
Michael F. BirdOver the course of history, theologians, commentators, preachers, and readers of the Bible have pondered what it means to be justified by faith in Christ, as Paul says in Galatians 2:16 (LEB). There are several knots that we have to untie when it...
Robert KolbFor five hundred years, the term “Lutheran” has served variously as a badge of confession for a specific definition of Christian, for Martin Luther’s supporters, as a word of insult used by foes to condemn a variety of views opposed to their own, or...
Leopoldo SánchezIn her article, “The Holy Spirit: Lutheran Perspectives,” Cheryl Peterson observes that, due to their historic emphasis on the doctrine of justification by faith on account of Christ as the chief article of Christian teaching, Lutherans are...
David P. BarshingerIn 1521 Martin Luther stood before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms and made his famous statement refusing to renounce his writings. Shortly thereafter, he was stolen away to the Wartburg Castle, and while in hiding as a marked man, he...
Logos StaffIt’s easy to think reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin were superhuman. They stood up to the world’s strongest power. They did what others didn’t dare to do. They changed the world. We think, “These people were extraordinary!” We forget...
Tavis BohlingerThe fourth interview in our series on the OUP Handbooks is with Robert Kolb, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther’s Theology. The LAB sat down (virtually) with...
An obscure monk hammers a list of grievances onto the doors of a church: what could be more revolutionary—or more symbolic of the Protestant Reformation—than that? But when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Church door on October...
This week we are celebrating the 501-year anniversary of the Reformation and featuring Reformation excerpts and reflections on the blog. Enjoy this excerpt from Luther’s Bondage of the Will, part of the Martin Luther collection. Luther argues from...
This post is an interview with Dr. Matthew Barrett, lecturer of systematic theology and church history at Oak Hill Theological College in London and general editor of Reformation Theology: A Systematic Summary. This month is the 501st anniversary of...
“There was something to that singular moment of the posting of the 95 Theses that not only changed Church history, [it] changed world history for centuries to come.” — Stephen Nichols, President of Reformation Bible College *** On...
The Christian story is full of dramatic conversions and calls to ministry. When a young, philosophical rabble-rouser heard the voice of a child singing “Pick it up and read it,” he felt compelled to reach for a Bible. When he randomly opened it to...
How would you rate your preaching skills? When you walk up to the pulpit on Sunday morning, what do you carry with you? Maybe it’s a gnawing anxiety over a point you needed just one more hour to develop. Or perhaps it’s excitement for the central...
Liz MeltonMartin Luther described the Apocrypha as “books which are not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, while at the same time . . . are profitable and good to read.” Luther translated these books and included them between the Old and New Testaments...
Jesse MyersEdited by Richard Muller, author of the magisterial Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, the Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought series engages original texts in Reformed history with care and precision, bringing to light...
Guest AuthorToday’s guest post is by Rick Muchow, Saddleback Church’s founding worship pastor. Muchow served with Pastor Rick Warren for 25 years, and he has helped train over 150,000 church leaders. Muchow continues to equip and encourage local...
“Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies.”—The last words attributed to John Huss At the end of the fourteenth century, John Wycliffe’s influence was beginning to...