Yes, its not impartial. : ) I write for this blog for a reason. Anyway, as I said in a recent post, about the new book on Law and Gospel now being released by CPH….(see above): If someone in the Confessional Lutheran house spoke about the “so-called doctrine of justification,” you could bet that every head would turn. But say “so-called 3rd use of the law” – using the church’s publishing house meant to provide the most excellent Christian doctrine... Read more
In this second part of my review of Confessing the Gospel: A Lutheran Approach to Systematic Theology, I explore the section on the doctrine of God. This is done in two parts: the Trinity, and the attributes of God, which are addressed in separate posts. This article was written by John F. Johnson, who is a frequent contributor to Concordia Theological Quarterly on the doctrine of God and other related ideas. In perusing some of his articles, it is clear that... Read more
Concordia Publishing House recently released a two volume systematic theology titled Confessing the Gospel: A Lutheran Approach to Systematic Theology. This is a much needed set, as there has been a severe lack of Lutheran systematic theological texts in recent years, aside from the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series from Luther Academy. I recently received both volumes in the mail, and I have decided to do a series of reviews on these books as I read them section by section. In... Read more
It should be of no surprise to my readers that I have profound areas of disagreement with Robert Jenson. He promoted a form of process Theism [1] based upon a modified theology of hope [2], while I hold to a more Thomistic approach to the doctrine of God. Yet, despite whatever disagreements I have with him, I recognize Jenson to be one of the most significant Christian thinkers of the last century. His brilliance is perhaps only surpassed by Karl... Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne Do you think that you can love God but not the Christians who penned the Nashville Statement? Maybe, like St. Augustine who was haunted by the knowledge that he had stolen pears just because they were behind a fence — not even eating them – you are experiencing the utter confusion and divine wrath the law of God brings. At least, that’s what I venture the Sarcastic Lutheran’s namesake, Martin Luther, would have thought. How... Read more
This is the final section of my lecture series on the history and theology of the Reformation. In this talk, I discuss Luther’s approach to the two kinds of righteousness, the two kingdoms, and other aspects of the Christian life. Here is the program. Read more
Chapter 1: Natural Law in Martin Luther’s Antinomian Disputations Chapter 2: Does the Christian Cease to be Under the Law of God? Chapter 3: If the Law is Abrogated in Jesus Christ How Can the Ten Commandments be Eternal? Chapter 4: Should the Preacher Reduce the Force of God’s Law? +++ Post by Nathan Rinne “Sin boldly” means in no way boldly to sin. But enough about that. Let’s talk about those baptized into Christ welcoming “Mr. Sin” boldly. You... Read more
This is the third in a series of lectures I delivered on the topic The History and Theology of the Reformation. Following up on the previous talk on the life of Martin Luther, in this class I discuss the major theological themes in Luther’s writings. I address these in the context of various debates in which the Reformer was engaged throughout his life. Here is the program. Read more
+++ Post by Nathan Rinne Updated: Chapter 2: Does the Christian Cease to be Under the Law of God? Chapter 3: If the Law is Abrogated in Jesus Christ How Can the Ten Commandments be Eternal? Chapter 4: Should the Preacher Reduce the Force of God’s Law? Chapter 5 of 5: Sin Boldly or Welcome “Mr. Sin” Boldly? (Luther’s “Thomas Christian”) +++ Welcome to the LADFD series: Luther’s Antinomian Disputations for Dummies. Regarding the title of this series — and the... Read more
On today’s podcast, I played a lecture that I gave on the life and legacy of Martin Luther. This is part of a short class I taught on the history and theology of the Reformation in honor of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s nailing the 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg. This follows the last podcast, in which I gave some background regarding the theology and practices which developed in the medieval Western church. Here is the program.... Read more
Just and Sinner
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