Tag Archives: Lutheran
Older postsAn Interview with Prof. Annemarie Mayer
We chatted with Annemarie Mayer, a professor and scholar at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Tübingen, Germany. Tell us how you got involved in ecumenism. I studied Latin, Greek and Catholic Theology at Tübingen University and went abroad for … Continue reading
An Interview with Jared Wicks, S.J., Catholic scholar of Luther
Jared Wicks is a theologian and writer at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. We asked him a few questions about his unusual vocation. How did you as a Jesuit become a scholar of Luther? My pre-ordination theology studies … Continue reading
Catholic Scholars of Luther
Johannes Cochlaeus was a contemporary of Luther’s and his first “heresiographer,” in the words of Ralph Keen*—in other words, the opposite of a hagiographer, one who demonizes a supposedly wicked and impious enemy of the church. Cochlaeus’s 1548 biography, “The … Continue reading
Developing an Ecumenical View of Luther
The wonderful and insightful statement “Martin Luther: Witness to Jesus Christ” (please! take ten minutes and read the whole thing!) stakes out some common ground for Lutherans and Catholics to share regarding the person of Luther himself. One important aspect … Continue reading
The New Catholic—and Lutheran—View of Luther
Luther is a stumbling block for Catholics—and often enough for Lutherans, who tend to have equally caricatured if more positive views of him. The real Luther is an incredibly complicated person. The absolute best statement of a mature, ecumenical view … Continue reading
An Interview with Theodor Dieter, Lutheran Ecumenist
Tell us how you became an ecumenist. First: When I was a student of Protestant theology and philosophy I studied twice the magisterial book The Theology of Justification in Martin Luther and Thomas Aquinas by the Catholic theologian Otto Hermann … Continue reading
…and the Methodists Get in on the Action!
It was amazing enough that Lutherans and Catholics together for the first time in their history made a mutual doctrinal statement together in the Joint Declaration. But nobody expected the amazing follow-up: the world’s Methodist churches signing on as well! The … Continue reading
Australia Ahead of Everybody Else
While the final text of the Joint Declaration was undergoing review in the Catholic Church and in the member churches of the Lutheran World Federation, the folks Down Under were way ahead of the game. They looked into the JD … Continue reading
Sweden and Finland Get Justified Too
The international agreement in the Joint Declaration, with both churches signing at the highest level, was a huge breakthrough. The JD is binding and permanent. But the reality is that nothing is binding and permanent unless the whole church receives … Continue reading
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification: So Much More Exciting Than It Sounds
This bulkily named declaration is exciting, first of all, because it’s the first time ever that the Lutheran and Catholic churches mutually committed to a statement about the Christian faith. Given the range and depth of their accusations against each … Continue reading
On the Way to the Joint Declaration
Since Lutherans have said for centuries now (to be precise, since Franz Turretini in 1682) that the doctrine of justification is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls, it’s not surprising that it has been central to Lutheran-Catholic … Continue reading
An Interview with Bp. Donald McCoid
We asked a few questions of Bp. Donald McCoid, ordained for 42 years, bishop since 1987, and Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2007. Tell us how you got involved in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue. … Continue reading
Mediator(s) and Saints
The Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue in the U.S. has been particularly productive and impressive in its output. One of its best works is the collection The One Mediator, the Saints, and Mary, which examines this obvious point of dispute between the … Continue reading
Some Thoughts on Saints
We’re a few days away from Milan, where St. Augustine finally became a Christian, and the day after we’ll overnight in Pavia, home to some relics of St. Augustine… which prompts some thoughts on saints. It’s one of the more … Continue reading
Interview with Fr. Richard G. Herbel, Lutheran monk
We asked a few questions of Fr. Richard G. Herbel of St. Augustine’s House in Oxford, Michigan. Lutheran monks aren’t an everyday sight! How do you understand the place of monastic life within the Lutheran church? Martin Luther and the … Continue reading
