"The sixteenth-century evangelical heritage, formulated creatively by Martin Luther and summarized with a clear catholic perspective by Philip Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession, is celebrated in this volume. Building on the theological insights of Edward Schroeder, various themes of the theology of Luther and of the Augsburg Confession are explored by nine of Schroeder's students as well as by Schroeder himself, whose three essays inform the rest of the volume. All of the contributors argue convincingly for the continuing relevance of the evangelical tradition because it meets the test of the 'double-dipstick' that Schroeder proposes as the hermeneutical key and guiding principle for Christian theology, namely, that it proclaims Christ and comforts troubled consciences. The essays in this volume are stimulating, incisive, and faithfully evangelical. They do what Luther insists Scripture, Christian theology, and Christian proclamation must do, that is, Christum treiben.”
Gift and Promise: The Augsburg Confession and the Heart of Christian Theology
Gift and Promise shows how the theology of the Augsburg Confession is a gift for the world today. In the first three chapters, Edward Schroeder traces the "hub" of the Augsburg Confession—the promise of justification by faith alone—to its source in Luther's theology of the cross. The subsequent nine chapters demonstrate how that central hub is articulated in the various articles of faith that comprise the Augsburg Confession. Each of the nine chapters is written by a distinguished theologian, historian, or scholar who was a student of Schroeder. In his foreword, Matthew Becker points to the significance of Schroeder's insights for theological study today as well as for the observance of 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. In the course of these pages, the Trinity, sin, ethics, mission, and other topics are thus illumined as arenas in which the gospel promise is a gift for ministry and life today.
- Publisher Fortress Press
- Format Paperback
- ISBN 9781506410685
- eBook ISBN 9781506410692
- Pages 310
- Dimensions 6 x 9
- Publication Date August 1, 2016
Contents
Introduction
Foreword—Matthew L. Becker
Introduction to the Writers
Acknowledgements
Martin Luther and the Augsburg Confession
Abbreviations
1. Preach One Thing: The Wisdom of the Cross—Edward H. Schroeder
2. Necessitating Christ: The Clue to Handling the Scriptures—Edward H. Schroeder
3. Why the Cross Is at the Center—Edward H. Schroeder
4. The Trinity as Gospel—Arthur C. Repp
5. Sin—Kathryn A. Kleinhans
6. Church, Ministry, and the Main Thing—Marcus Felde
7. The Promise of Baptism for the Church Today—Steve E. Albertin
8. Christology at the Table—Marcus C. Lohrmann
9. On the Other Hand: God's Care for the Creation and Its Dilemmas—Marie A. Failinger
10. The Ethics of Augsburg: Ethos under Law, Ethos under Grace, Objective Ethos—Michael Hoy
11. A Lutheran Confessional Exploration of Gospel Praxis—Steven C. Kuhl
12. Mission—Jukka Kääriäinen
Afterword—Catherine Lessmann
Samples
Reviews
Review in Lutheran Quarterly
Endorsements
Kurt K. Hendel | Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
"These twelve essays—three by Edward Schroeder and nine by his students—provide ample demonstration of how the Augsburg Confession remains a living basis for confessing the Christian faith in the twenty-first century. Many more will now be able to appreciate Schroeder's engagement with the Lutheran confessions and their expression of the gospel of Jesus Christ with their appeal for trust in Christ as Lord and Savior in the midst of change and challenge in our day. Gift and Promise reveals the fruitful dimensions and directions taken by those who studied with Schroeder and Robert Bertram and their efforts to translate the work of Werner Elert into the ever-changing North American context."
Robert Kolb | Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis
"This book is living testimony to the relevance today of the Reformation of the church begun in 1517 and shows the many rich dimensions of Luther and Lutheran theology for world Christianity. The authors have breathed deeply in the Spirit who guided Luther and his followers to retrieve the deepest meaning of the Gospel and the centrality of Jesus for our Trinitarian Christian life. Gift and Promise is a wonderful gift to the entire church as we commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation."
William R Burrows | managing editor emeritus, Orbis Books