Protestantism is usually thought of as rejecting the figure of Mary as a collaborator in Christ’s redemption. In Luther’s commentary on the Magnificat (1521), we can see that this doctrine would ...continue to evolve throughout his life, and would not always be free of apparent ambiguities. Luther extolled the figure of Mary, but at the same time he could not avoid reinterpreting her according to the presuppositions of the doctrine of justification and his theology of the Cross, and he understands the figure of Mary as a Mater dolorosa, as one who participates in a special way in the sorrow of her Son. Her union with the Saviour means she shares his pain. In these lines, we intend to look at the main points proposed by the German reformer in his new perspective on Mariology, and the possible influence of this change in spirituality on painting, for example, in The Crucifixion (1532) by Luther’s personal friend Lucas Cranach the Elder, and we propose a comparison with The Lamentation of Christ (1502), painted before the Reformation.
This paper offers a brief survey of some of the main points of the argument of David Brown's and Gavin Hopps' The Extravagance of Music. It tries to show that an understanding of the extravagance of ...music must be based on an appreciation of the pervasiveness of music. Martin Luther's theology of music is offered as an example of such an integrative view of music, comprising the music of creation, birdsong, the human voice and instrumental music-making. Music is seen as a divine gift and the ruler of the affections. Johann Sebastian Bach's music is presented as a paradigmatic example of the mutual resonances between theology and music, mediated through the rhetorical figures of music which are related to specific human affections. It is argued that paying attention to the particularities of music and to the specific understanding of transcendence in the religions opens up even richer possibilities of mutual resonances between theology and music.
This paper delves into Erik H. Erikson’s psychohistorical analysis of Martin Luther, thereby highlighting the existential import of Luther’s identity crisis in the formation of his religious identity ...as a
homo religiosus
. Within this framework, the intricate interrelationship between psychoanalysis and religion is expounded on by centering on Erikson’s psychosocial approach to religion. Through a constructive reevaluation of Erikson’s seminal work,
Young Man Luther
, three major events in Luther’s adolescence that influenced the formation of Luther’s religious identity are examined. This paper especially zeros in on Luther’s identity crisis stemming from his disconnection from a “threefold fatherhood” and its resolution through his connection to an alternative fatherhood. Lastly, the applicability of Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory is evaluated in light of decolonization and its intercultural relevance today.
The significance of the Bible for the Reformation is undisputed. Employing various perspectives, this volume reflects on biblical interpretation and hermeneutics during the time of the Reformation. ...It discusses the Wittenberg Reformers (Luther and Melanchthon) and the Reformed (including Bullinger, Calvin, and Bucer), along with their cross-connections to Erasmus, the Baptists, and the Christian reception of Jewish biblical interpretation.
Die Reihe Historia Hermeneutica ist ein hochwertiges Forum für die Erforschung der Hermeneutik-Geschichte und -Methodik. Sie wird die Hauptphase der hermeneutischen Theoriebildung in Europa von der ...Reformation bis in die Moderne (ca. 1500 - 1850) wissenschaftlich abbilden.
This article addresses an unusual case of annotation in an early Luther imprint. Drew University Library (Madison, NJ, USA) owns a copy of Luther's Confitendi ratio (Wittenberg, 1520) that, according ...to the Library catalog, "is heavily annotated in a contemporary hand." The present article identifies the sources of these annotations and offers some suggestions about the identity of the annotator, as well as some suggestions about the possible reasons or uses for these annotations. It also reflects on the function of annotations in the Kommunikationsprozess. The article suggests that the annotations in this book may have some connection with the Latomus Controversy that engaged Luther and other Reformers in the early 1520s.
Two factors loom large in the crisis that the church and our institutions of theological education are facing today. The first is that the traditional formulations of the gospel that we have ...inherited are highly problematic from both a theological and a biblical perspective. The second is a model of church that in many ways no longer responds to our present‐day realities. By defining the gospel in terms of transformation and healing and embracing new forms of community, we can enable more people to be immersed in the gospel in the context of communities that are both transformed and transforming.
