Date of Award

2-1-1982

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Divinity (M.Div)

Department

Systematic Theology

First Advisor

William Schmelder

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

1 Corinthians 13:2; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Corinthians 1:21,22; Acts 13:46; Acts 14:9; Acts 7:51; Ephesians 1:13,14; Ephesians 4:30; Galatians 4:6; James 2:17,18,26; John 17:20; John 3:19; John 5:44; John 5:9; Romans 10:17; Romans 3:24,25; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:14-17;

Abstract

An article in the December 14, 1981 issue of the Reporter begins: “Lutheran theologians do a good job of emphasizing salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, yet lay people do not seem to grasp the divine compulsion to follow faith with works." This may be true today, but it is no fault of John Gerhard and the other 'orthodox' Lutheran theologians. This paper has originated from a desire to learn more about the connection between faith and works, and whether Lutheran theology gives this connection proper treatment. Because the age of orthodoxy has formed the basis of so much of Lutheran dogmatics; and because so much of what these theologians thought has been 'lost' in the huge tomes which they wrote, buried by the reactions of Rationalism and Pietism; and finally because so many libraries have been filled with volumes on the Reformation documents, it seemed advantageous to begin my search here, using Reformation documents only for background. Correct as the Lutheran Reformers may have been, why was their teaching seemingly so obscured by the following generations, or was it? This paper is the result of inquiry into one small section of one such orthodox theologian.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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