Date of Award
6-1-1952
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div)
Department
Practical Theology
First Advisor
Walter Buszin
Abstract
There have been many movements and trends within the Lutheran Church since the time of the Reformation, and these have inevitably effected aspects of Church life and practice to some degree, depending on the type of the movement. In the twentieth century, with its great and influential world events, there has arisen a new Lutheran consciousness which reveals itself in many ways in various countries. This consciousness, in some countries, shows itself in a new liturgical interest, an interest which, while attempting to be specifically and definitely Lutheran; is attempting to be creative and to add to the cultus of the Church, as well as to revive many Lutheran traditions and practices. In so doing, the Lutheran Church is in no way attempting to discard its distinctiveness or merely to borrow from or copy others. Rather, the Lutheran Church is only making full use of what she rightly claims to be here. And in order to know and to show her claims, she points to the Reformation period, to the time when she made known in the clearest manner what was hers. Therefore, to understand the Lutheran Church and to know and to appreciate her claims is to know the Reformation. Since the writer has observed this trend within the Lutheran Church and has been caught up in it, he has been prompted, on the basis of certain of Luther's writings, to discover for himself some distinct Lutheran principles in regard to worship. Of Luther's liturgical writings, his Formula. Missae of 1523 and his Deutsche Messe of 1526 were taken as the basis for research. Thus, by studying the background to Luther’s liturgical activity and by observing Luther's objectives in his liturgical undertakings, the writer has attempted to discover for himself that which is distinctly Lutheran and how it is to be applied.
Recommended Citation
Reuther, Thomas, "The Background and Objectives of Luther's Formula Missae and Deutsche Messe" (1952). Bachelor of Divinity. 385.
https://scholar.csl.edu/bdiv/385
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