For many Christians, a favourite hymn is the one penned by Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress.” On Reformation Day—and throughout the year—the church sings this hymn with great passion. After a sermon celebrating the power and faithfulness of God our…
Luther expressed his appreciation for history and historians on numerous occasions. History, he believed, provides fodder for both fear and praise since God is sovereign over the course of human events. History records and reminds us how God “upholds, rules,…
I’ve been preparing a talk on Luther and education for a conference this summer, and so have been reviewing Luther’s 1524 “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany, That They Establish and Maintain Christian Schools.” In examining this work,…
The details of Luther’s mid-1520s tussle with Erasmus over the issue of sin’s impact on human freedom are generally well known. Luther responded to Erasmus’s 1524 De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio with his own 1525 De servo arbitrio [On…
In 1524 Desiderius Erasmus, who until then had proven reluctant to challenge Martin Luther publically, finally caved to pressure from Rome to employ his literary talent against the impudent German Reformer who had caused, and was still causing, the institutional…
“One thing,” Martin Luther writes in the Freedom of a Christian (1520), “and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is _______.” Knowing Luther to be the author, we’re quick to assume that “faith” belongs…
Erasmus and the Greek New Testament This year marks the 500th anniversary of the publication of Erasmus’ Greek New Testament. It was a landmark publication for biblical studies, though we may tend to forget its role in the Reformation. 2016…
In his Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation of 1520, Luther takes aim at the Roman Church’s “flimsy and worthless” claim to possess the exclusive authority and ability (by virtue of some unique spiritual gift) to interpret…
In considering the differences between those who support and those who oppose the baptism of infants, focusing too narrowly upon the need for faith in the recipients of the rite can be misleading, for among Reformed Christians this necessity is…
In considering the differences between those who support and those who oppose the baptism of infants, focusing too narrowly upon the need for faith in the recipients of the rite can be misleading, for among Reformed Christians this necessity is…
